


Together we fall

by Warponyrider



Category: Trinity Blood
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Blood Drinking, F/M, Light Angst, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2019-07-24 12:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16175501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warponyrider/pseuds/Warponyrider
Summary: Abel awakes up after his fight with Cain (manga) and has to piece together what has happened to him and what to do now. AX can’t help him, and Cain is still alive.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first stab at fanfic and I own nothing related to trinity blood.
> 
> Not sure how this will go but wanted to post to get it started.

Chapter 1

 

Abel slowly opened his wintery blue eyes, a white ceiling and a light came into focus initially. For a moment it reminded him of his youth in the lab, and he sat up quickly to assert his surroundings. It really looked like one of the ones he was in as a child.  
“Hey! Slow down Abel, it’s okay, you're safe here.” William’s soothing baritone voice came from Abel’s left.  
Looking down at himself, Abel could see he was in a medical bed, and stripped to his underclothes. He ached everywhere, like his muscles had been strained and stretched past capacity.  
“Professor… what’s going on?” Abel’s voice croaked as he tried to speak, his throat parched. He wasn't hooked up to any machines which was good, but he didn't remember being hurt either.

“Well, you are in a medical room within the underground area of Albion. Lord Walsh thought it was best you were here for your recovery from... um well everything the last few days.. Do you remember much? How do you feel? What do you want to eat?” William had shifted in his chair and had his elbows resting on his knees as he looked at the other man, his pipe held in his teeth, his brown eyes warm with concern.

Abel shifted in the bed to allow himself to lean against the headboard. His silvery hair draped across his shoulders and chest, the paleness of his skin had improved over the night, but still held an almost blue tinge. For a body that had taken so many wounds over the years, nary a scar blemished it, except for a thin jagged line at the v of his collar bone. Hardly evidence of the mortal wound he had suffered several days ago. William was just stunned that the full fusion of the nanomachines had repaired their host back to full physical state. Scientifically it was a wonder and his mind cried to find out more about it, but his respect and love for the man sitting in the bed kept his cravings at bay. To have been dead and rise again, what would Abel’s mind be like? Was it still Abel or had the Crusnik taken over more of him now. 

“I remember Esther, hearing her crying… And Cain, he was talking to her… he was going to hurt her to get to me. Then the Crusnik took hold of me… rage, rage like I haven't felt before…” he closed his eyes and licked his lips, checking absently that his teeth were still human and not the maw of razors from the beast within. William grabbed the glass of water sitting on a table beside them and offered it to him patiently. Abel opened his eyes and took the water gratefully as he sorted out his thoughts.  
“I have never gone to that level before with the nanomachines, but I know I set him back, his butler took him away before I could finish my attacks… Esther was there, she saw it all again. Is she ok? Once Cain was gone, the nanomachines didn't really deactivate like normal, I don’t think I did anything more… Then I am here. I feel so sore all over. And the nanomachines are different, I am different now… I don't know how to explain it, sorry Professor.”  
“That’s alright Abel, that is a lot more than I thought you would remember. Esther is fine, no harm came to her at all.”Abel relaxed with the news of Esther’s welfare. “Honestly it’s astounding. You have been down here for several days now, somehow your system went into a sleep mode we couldn't rouse you from. And we couldn't give you any fluids or anything, the Crusnik zapped me every time I tried to get an IV in.” he smirked slightly at the memory of the several attempts. “They seemed to be quite opinionated now.”  
“Oh lord, I hope you were ok! Did anything else happen to me?”  
“Oh, pash I’m fine, take more than an arc of electricity to slow me down. And no, Esther was able to get Tres and Lord Walsh to help take you to the elevator that gets us here. You have been here since. Now,” he sat back in his chair and chewed on his pipe contemplatively. “What do you need to eat? I have things for your human side, and stuff for the Crusnik. What do we feed first?”  
Abel looked down at his lap, examining his hands slowly. What am I now, he thought, am I a human or now fully a monster in the trappings of a human?  
William seeing that Abel was unsure, stood up and gathered some items from a counter behind him. Returning he set before him, a cup of tea, granted not steaming but still warm with its many spoonfuls of sugar, some baked honey cakes and some berries on a plate. Then he set a small sealed jar with a thick red liquid in it, beside the tea. Abels eyes snapped up to Williams somewhat panicked when the jar was set down.  
“I’ll give you some time without my scrutiny, there are a few people here interested in your welfare, and some decisions to be made. I will be back in about fifteen minutes.”  
Abel nodded towards him, and looked back at the food. 

He picked up the tea and once it touched his lips, greedily gulped it down. His stomach growled in response to having finally some nourishment. The honey cakes and berries were soon to follow. As he tried to avoid the jar, static electricity seemed to crawl along his forearms towards the jar. He knew what was in that jar, the Crusnik craved the methuselah blood with a vengeance. Long fingers suddenly started to shift into their monstrous clawed forms, teeth elongating into the sharp pointed maw and blue eyes darkening to a deep red. Abel shook his head side to side, to regain himself from the Crusnik. It wasn’t activated yet! It shouldn’t be manifesting without the commands!  
He had the jar opened before he realized it, and once the smell reached his senses… Abel felt his wings pushing at his back, the air now held the static charge of a storm filled with ozone. He wasn’t in control anymore, the beast took the jar and guzzled the lifeblood down without care.  
When the jar was empty, licked clean by a long tongue, Abel was vaguely aware again. He felt something different along his consciousness, soothing and familiar like a childhood memory…  
The namomachines reacted too, calming down in his veins and mind. What is this? Abel thought, searching his mind for more of this sensation.  
Traces from the intensity of his transformation were gone from his body now and he sat there the jar still in his hand and eyes closed when William walked back in.

William cough politely and tapped his cane on the door frame.  
“Feel a bit more yourself now with some food in that never ending belly of yours?” He asked with friendly teasing.  
Abel started and put the jar down quickly.  
“Ah… um well yes, thank you Professor… for all of it.” He paused as William took the tray away and sat down again in the chair. “So... what happened to me?”  
“Heh, yes well I’ve got Caterina coming to explain some of that… as it seems like something between you two.” William fidgeted with getting his pipe out and cradled it in his hands, displaying his discomfort. “But, bullocks...Abel you died, Cain blasted your head off your ah... body. We gathered you up and put you in a coffin.... Then Mary Spencer’s attacks got everything in a mess. It’s been a hectic couple of days. When I came back to the palace, what was left of it anyway… you were whole. Tres was sent here by Caterina.”  
“Ah… explains the gap in my mind I guess,” he sadly smirked. Abel reached up and rubbed at his neck as he digested the information. “You said she’s coming to explain more? Perhaps I should get dressed…”  
“Ah yeah funny thing there… you were pronounced dead by the Vatican. I can’t give you back your uniform, it will raise a lot of questions. So here’s some clothes that Lord Walsh supplied that should fit you.” He gestured towards a cloth bag resting beside the end table.  
“Oh and before I forget the lovely woman with the red spike of hair and the young man from the empire have also come to Londonium. They demanded to accompany Caterina when news of you having been injured came out.”  
“Asthe? The empress must have been doing some negotiations with the Vatican… Professor I’m not entirely sure I can be around the methuselah right now alone…” Abel fidgeted a bit as he pulled the bag of clothes over and proceeded to get dressed in the somber grey and black casual wear.  
“Well, yes I did expect some issue with that since the nanomachines would be a bit grumpy with the level of bacillus you take in to feed them. As much as you don’t like it perhaps another jar or two would help… But I will do my best to stay nearby, or have Tres in attendance.” He smiled and reached out to pat him on the shoulder. “It’s alright, we understand this is a bit odd for you. Oh, and here’s your glasses. I repaired them and tweaked the lenses to have a stronger glare reducing element , as I’m sure your eyes are even more sensitive than before being how well you can see.”  
“Ah yes that will help me a lot. Honestly it’s hard to believe that I need glasses because I see too well but they make the light bearable.” Abel settled his glasses on and felt a semblance of normalcy come over him. The clothes showed his towering height and slim figure, the sweater helped hide how slender he was as his wide shoulders let it drape around his torso. It wasn’t a great fit but doable.  
“Well, are you ready for Caterina?”  
Abel sighed a bit and nodded. While William was gone Abel finally got his hair combed and tied back with a black ribbon. At least they gave him back his boots, a good boot was worth its weight in gold as far as he was concerned. Sighing he sat on the bed to pull them on.  
“I was worried you were never going to wake.” Caterina’s smooth low voice carried into the small room. She stood at the door in her less ornate robes, the deep red and gold trimmed dress and cloak framing her slight figure and draped with her heavy blond hair. Her monocle hung from its clip at her lapel, her cardinal hat oddly missing.  
She walked into the room and up to Abel, reaching out her hand to his shoulder, then to his cheek, as if to assert it was actually him.  
“Well, that would be a plausible fear given what’s happened,” Abel replied. Her forward action of touching him was a bit out of character for her.  
“I… didn’t know what to do when we got the news.” She quietly admitted as she sat down on the chair, reaching forward to hold his hand.  
“William said there was things we needed to discuss… what is it?” Abel softened his voice as he relaxed his hand to her administrations. If it soothed her, he didn’t mind.  
“I made the decision to give you Liliths remaining nanomachines, in hopes you could be brought back.... From what information I’ve gathered since, Cain is something we are not able to deal with. Leave us the Order if you can get to him. I… can’t lose you yet… obviously he knows how to harm you as nothing else has.” She lowered her grey eyes and moved her thumb over his hand almost absently as she spoke.  
Abel studied her face as she spoke, his eyes widened when she mentioned Liliths nanomachines… Of course, a conversation long ago about how the nanomachines are able to rebuild tissues from recently dead tissue. It explained the odd feeling when he consumed the blood earlier. Lilith or 03 was with him now, and 02 wasn’t exactly happy but it was working themselves out in his system.  
“You’re not wrong Caterina. Cain and I are very similar, even more so now that we have both been fused with the nanomachines at 100%. I need to talk to Esther to know what was said before I… ah well…awoke I guess as all I can remember is she tried to stop him from taking me.”  
“Is he like you? Crusnik?” Her somber grey gaze looked up into his icy blues.  
“Yes, he was the first. We fused him when he had a very bad accident, we didn’t know it would change him so much… but we too didn’t want to lose him. He was my twin… and perhaps he is still in there but it’s 01, a full fusion of the sentient nanomachines that have control.” He struggled some with this confession, the guilt of what that fateful day nearly nine hundred ago on Mars had caused. Caterina had been the first person to find him and she helped him find the world again after his long exile. She deserved some of the truth.  
She nodded and sighed slightly, releasing his hand and settling back in the chair. The lady of steel was putting up her walls again, her administrative air returning to her all at once.  
“So, I can’t take you back with us to the Vatican, Brother Petros as well as others including Alessandro confirmed your death. I am sorry Abel, we walk a tightrope with the inquisition and this would have all of us tried for some offence or another by my brother.”  
Abel nodded since William had mentioned this earlier so it wasn’t as much of a shock.  
“Astharothe and Ion have come here, since they were in Milan to further trade and peace talks with us. I brought them with me, and perhaps they can help you in the search for Cain. I’m not sure exactly what the Empress has planned yet… but you should have someone with you. Solo missions never go well for you and I can’t spare Tres anymore.” She smiled sadly as she knew their association was coming to a close. Her demeanour softened again.  
“I probably will never see you alone again after this Abel. I’m not sorry for bringing you back, and I wish things had been different. I will truly miss you, the glimpses of you I was allowed to know.” She stood up and leaned over to him, looking quickly into his eyes she placed a chaste kiss on his lips in a silent farewell.  
He blinked in momentary surprise but then returned the kiss giving his own acknowledgment of her feelings he had always known were there under the surface.  
She straightened up and moved to the door. “Thank you Abel, for everything.” And she exited the room in a silent swirl of fabric.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the hits and kudos :) 
> 
> Please enjoy chapter 2. Hopefully Abel cooperates and I can churn out chapter 3 this week

William walked in a short while after Caterina had left, giving Abel some time to think.  
“When can I see Esther? From what I can guess, I need to be moving soon if I want to find Cain again.” Abel had been pacing the small room, stretching and shifting his sore muscles. William had brought another fresh pot of tea and a hearty snack for them to share.  
“Lord Walsh said after supper she is free to make it down here. Meetings have been back to back,” William mused as Abel’s strides were hampered in the small room. “You know, you’re not a prisoner here, we could go walk around a little.”  
“Hmmm… as tempting as that is, I’m still not sure I can do it yet. They activated without me earlier. That was unexpected and terrifying. I’ve always had conscious control before this.”  
Bringing out his pipe to chew on it a few times, William looked at Abel thoughtfully.  
“Well, let me bring the Duchess of Kiev in, she has been around you before and survived right? Or Lord Walsh, he did see your other form.”  
“I don’t know if that’s wise. But I’d rather take a hit from her than harm him.” He rubbed the back of his head ruefully.  
“Should I get another jar ready just incase? Or was the food enough?”  
“I...ah don’t know honestly. I used to be ok as long as no one had a wound. I should be in control enough again.” He reasoned out.  
William nodded and tucked his pipe back in his pocket. “I know where she is staying at, it’s not far given it’s also here in the underground facility. I won’t be long, drink up the rest of that tea with the sugar to help your nerves if anything.” 

Astharoshe was working on some meeting notes when there was a knock on her door. Not expecting anyone, she got up and opened the door.  
“Good afternoon my Lady, may I have a moment of your time?” William smiled warmly as he stood politely outside of her doorway.  
“Oh, hello…. Professor Wordsworth right?” She stumbled a bit as his name finally came to mind.  
“That’s correct, Duchess of Kiev, I’m glad I made enough of an impression to be remembered,” a boyish grin crossed his features briefly. “Abel is awake now, and we would like you to come see him, if you have some time to spare?”  
The statuesque woman’s amber eyes widened with the news and she looked past Williams brown hair searching for Abel’s lanky form.  
“Is he ok?”  
“For the most part yes, thank the lord. A few friendly faces would help him out a lot right now as he gets his bearings. I uh… will need to attend as well in case he has any issues, medically.”  
“Oh, of course. Being unconscious for that many days would be a bit unsettling to the mind. Can we go now?” At his nod she turned back and grabbed a dark blue long coat to put over her shoulders. Her ivory hair had grown out to just above her shoulders, her bangs with her trademark red streak, the last of her natural colour, swept to her right ear and trailing along her jawline. William had to quicken his stride to keep up with her.

Abel had fortified himself with the rest of the sugar and tea. Everything seemed normal so all that was left was to be around Asthe. He hadn’t seen her since the mission at the Empire, and given what Caterina said perhaps she was a good person to bring with him, they worked well together after she acknowledged he may know a thing or two.  
A light knock at the door and Astharoshe stepped in, her tall form, proud and upright. Abel blinked as he belatedly remembered how her hair had been burned short by Radu. Behind her William came in quietly and moved to the far side of the room, covertly watching Abel for any changes.  
Abel stood up and reached out to shake her hand as she came forward, to ward off any further contact as much as manners. She looked down at his hand briefly with a slight smile and took his offered hand. And with a grunt took her hand back quickly.  
“Ack! The static charge in this place is terrible.” Astharoshe shook her hand ruefully and looked at Abel a bit sheepishly.  
His face had gone pale and he was looking at his hand with concern. Nothing else had changed thankfully.  
His blue eyes snapped up and looked into hers, he chuckled in embrasement.  
“So it would seem! Very sorry about that Asthe.  
Here please sit down,” he gestured to the chair as he sat on the edge of the bed again.  
“You look to be on the mend now, Tovarish, how do you feel?”  
He smiled hearing her using the empire term for partner, it seemed she still held him in high regards.  
“I am alright now, all in one piece it seems.” William seemed to choke on his tea momentarily. “You were in Milan on Empire business?”  
“Yes, the Empress wanted more information on what possibilities are for open trade to the Outer. When Cardinal Caterina advised us she needed to get to Londinium as you had been injured… I felt we needed to come in assistance as much as anything.” She stopped a moment and looked past him a moment before refocusing on his face. “The Empress expressed that your return to the Empire was needed in the coming months. I was to persuade you to travel back with us.”  
“Oh… well that might not take so much convincing now,” he smirked a little since it sort of worked with him needing to leave AX now.  
“Cardinal Caterina seemed open to the idea of sending you as an envoy again. Given Esther is to be crowned immediately I’m not sure if you would have an assistant…”  
“Of course. I’m sure with you around I’ll be alright.”  
She smirked and rolled her eyes “I didn’t sign up for babysitting, tovarish.”  
“Pah, I’m not that bad.” He groused back, feeling at ease again with their friendly banter. “How soon do you need to return?”  
“Promptly once you were awake was the orders when I communicated with the Empress yesterday.”  
“She never did like waiting… will we be able to use an airship to get back?”  
“To my understanding yes. And with you in convalescence I’m sure it is more a necessity to help you recover.”  
“I won’t complain, beats walking any day.”  
Asthe seemed happy with everything and looked at her wrist watch.  
“I will take my leave then and start organizing our return?”  
“Give me a bit more time to settle a few things before you call the ship. I did only just wake up today you know,”  
She gave him a half smile and stood up, reaching out to shake his hand. Privately she wanted to touch him to reassure herself with some contact he was ok.  
Abel swallowed and reached out again, nervously awaiting another zap. But nothing happened, no rush of energy down his arm, and his mind was left in peace.  
“Ah ha ha, looks like the sparks have died down.” He chuckled and returned her handshake.  
She shared an amused grin with him before leaving the room.

“Whew, that wasn’t as terrible as it could have been.” Abel signed and looked at William.  
“Was the shock from you or just normal static charge?”  
“The nanomachines were quiet when she walked in, but when our hands touched… they got a bit pushy, after the shock happened things got muted and settled down to a normal level. Now that she’s out of the room it’s all gone away… I think I have a handle on them again.”  
“Not too shabby at all then, I would say. I think you are ok again to mingle, as per say.” William smiled around his pipe, “Perhaps we can meet with Lord Walsh and Esther?”  
“Yes, I need to know more of what happened when I was… well… indisposed?” He stumbled verbally as he tried to find a term that didn’t sound as upsetting as dead.  
“Ha yes that is a polite way to put it, might settle Esther down a little verses saying you were having a nap in a coffin.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abel gets the recap of what happened while he was “indisposed”

Abel felt a bit odd not wearing his priest uniform, but the dark grey greatcoat was at least similar enough to his old robes. He followed the Professor along the hallways leading to the elevator into the palace.   
They passed a few people, but thankfully for Abel it seemed the beast was happy to stay quiet. A cool calming feeling had encompassed him after the small electrical blast with Asthe. He liked to think it was Lilith giving him some relief from the mad monster in his veins. Perhaps being fully fused wouldn’t be so awful if she was able to help? Especially as it seemed going to see Seth was the next step for him, knowing his sister and having recently reconnected, he knew she would be upset at hearing he was injured. She wanted him to stay with her, but until Cain was dealt with, there would be no rest.  
The hallways showed recent signs of violence, smashed panels, bullet holes in a few places and the occasional dark splotch of dried blood. Luckily the fighting hadn’t gotten far in the underground, but uptop must be in rough shape if this was anything to go by.   
“So, uh Professor, what all happened while I was...absent?”  
“Oh it was a mess! Queen Bridget died, Esther’s birthright was discovered, Mary Spencer tried to take the palace with her undead army…. the pope was lost in the underground, but he’s ok. Damn inquisition locked up Lord Walsh, but obviously he was able to get free as he was there when Mary attacked Esther. Having the Order show up like it did was a huge blow, and they were happy to help Mary. There was some old technology paraded out that was just ugly, used microwave technology…my car did some really stellar flying, Miss Walsh didn’t seem to agree with my tactics though oddly. It’s been a while since I was in the thick of it, but I’m glad it’s settled down some for now.”  
Abel stopped walking and stared at the professor, “I go lights out for a few days and the world goes off the deep end.”  
“It would seem so ole chap,” William smirked, “so no doing that again.”  
Abel chuckled a little and nodded, “I don’t think I’d want to do a repeat either.”  
They continued on in the hallway till they reached the elevator that would take them to the surface.  
Once up top, they made their way to the waiting rooms used currently for meetings with Esther.

The entire building was a bit rough still, plaster and bits of wood had been shot here and there, panes of glass were covered over in a random pattern. The staff had done a great job repairing what they could, but it had a long way to go to being the flawless state it was before the attempted coup.

The side door opened and a butler waved the men into the smaller meeting room. The butler assured them a few minutes and left a tray of snacks and a fresh pot of tea.  
Abel took advantage of the offered food, since he would be in close quarters with Lord Walsh. Admittedly he was also a touch nervous with seeing Esther again. She had truly seen the Crusnik in full form now.   
“They really don’t make furniture for someone your height do they?” William commented as he watched Abel shift himself around on the chair and coffee table to where his knees weren’t in the way.  
“Not that I’ve found in a long while, always no leg room.” He admitted.  
Both men looked up when the door opened to admit the familiar red headed girl.  
Abel banged his knees trying to get to his feet.  
Esther stopped and stared at him, her eyes glistened with unshed tears.  
“Father Nightroad! You’re awake!” She rushed over to him and grabbed his hand.  
Abel smiled down at her as she held his hand and looked worriedly over his features.  
“Hello Esther,” he said warmly.  
“I’ve been so worried about you, but it’s been so chaotic since the attacks and now they are going to be crowning me tomorrow as the Queen of Albion! It’s just insane how much has changed in so short a time. Oh I’m so glad you’re ok Father!” She gushed at him and then sat down on the chair next to him, motioning for him to sit back down as well.  
She suddenly popped back up and reached for her pockets in her day dress.  
“Oh I kept this safe for you after the whole um… thing with Cain.” She handed him Lilith's heavy ornate golden cross.   
He took it in his hand, feeling it’s familiar textures and weight was a soothing thing he hadn’t realized was missing till that moment. A sudden warming sensation started in his shoulder and he closed his eyes urging the nanomachines back to zero activation. As it was he felt a tingle of charge wrap his hand and go into the cross, discharging a small arc to Esther’s hand as it was close still.  
“Ack!”  
“So sorry Esther! Are you ok?”  
“I’m fine, it wasn’t very strong…. are you having trouble with the uh… changes that happened to you?” Her blue eyes looked into his, heavy with concern and some guilt.  
He tucked the cross into his pocket and had some tea before answering.  
“It’s a bit different for sure, but it was necessary for me to come back, to protect those important to me as I have a job still to do. I am truly ok with this, dear Esther.”  
She smiled and then leaned over to hug him, relief evident on her fine features.  
“I’m so happy you’re ok. I was so lost without you, I felt so guilty about what had happened in that room… I locked myself in the church for a while, before the main attack happened. I just couldn’t be away from you… and then when Mary took me back to visit the Queen, things got really bad…” she stopped and looked around the room a bit, organizing her thoughts.  
The door opened and a blonde haired man, smartly attired in a long coat stepped in. He nodded at everyone and smiled politely. “My deepest apologies, a few things held me back from coming in with Miss Esther.” Virgil Walsh amended. “It’s good to see you are awake and getting around Mr Nightroad.” Luckily he took the chair furthest from Abel, and set about getting tea for himself and Esther.  
“It’s good to be about, and thank you very much for the clothes on such short notice.”  
Esther smiled at the two men, and took the offered cup from Virgil.   
“Lord Walsh has been a most excellent host and has given me so much help these last few days. Did Professor fill you in much on what happened?”  
“Ah… well no, other than a quick summary that had a lot of stuff happen while I was uh… indisposed.” Abel admitted. “I was really hoping to hear from you what happened especially in the church as my memory kind of well... stopped back in that room when I saw Cain.”  
“Well, if I may, the quick and dirty of it was Mary Spencer used her undead army to take the throne after she had slowly poisoned the Queen. Then there was some assistance from this Rosenkreuz Order, that had somehow gotten a hold of the Excalibur weapon that was stolen from the ghetto.” Abel’s eyes widened at the name of the weapon.   
“The man that was with Cain is Issac von khampher and has extensive knowledge with ancient technology… I have been trying to find him since my early days in Albion” William interjected.  
“Yes, it seems that he was able to get some things while the confusion of your death had us preoccupied. This Excalibur weapon is quite nasty and killed quite a few with its limited use. One of Mary’s lieutenants managed to get on the Pope’s airship, but was neutralized by a high ranking inquisition member. While that was going on her other lieutenant had whipped up the public to attack the ghetto, we were ready for a bloodbath… then Miss Esther bravely stood up to them and turned the angry mob around into a more sensible group. We were able to kill that lieutenant as well, and gained some knowledge of Mary’s intentions.” Virgil nodded towards Esther and offered her tea, and took a sip of his as well.  
“While we were trying to figure out how to stop the Excalibur weapon, Father Tres had made it to your tomb, and was attacked by… ghouls is what comes to mind… Esther and I rushed over to the Abbey. Mary Spencer was there in an armoured battle suit. Father Tres and I fought the ghouls to protect your coffin as well as Miss Esther. That was when Issac and his master, Cain entered the Abbey with intentions to take your corpse… Mary at the end tried to protect Esther from him but perished. We tried an assault on him but he severely damaged Father Tres, and I am still… recovering from the black substance he hit me with...it was truly the most painful thing to happen to me. Miss Esther stood in his way, and that’s when you kind of well, erupted. When everything was done Tres and I were able to get back into the Abbey to get you to our infirmary.”  
Virgil looked into his teacup and settled back into his chair a little more. Abel looked at him a bit more closely and could sense his bacillus count was still quite low as a result of Cain’s nanomachines attacking his system, it would likely take another week for the methuselah to feel steady again.  
“All of our intel says they went back to the mainland after they escaped your attacks. Perhaps Albion is safe for now but I have the feeling this is only the beginning”  
“Thank you for your report Lord Walsh, thanks again for your efforts against him. I would um… recommend upping your diet for a bit to regain your strength. The black stuff he got on you would have depleted all of the bacillus in your blood…”Vigil’s eyes widened as he understood more of what Abel’s advice meant. “And yes I do greatly agree with you in regards to this is just the start for Cain. I will be leaving soon to go after him. No one else can defeat him as there is nothing else like him on earth except… me, given him and I are of the same monster.” Abel’s voice drifted off and he awkwardly drank the last of his tea.  
“Father you are not a monster! Granted you’re more than human but not a monster.” Esther stood up and faced him fully. “I saw how you protected me from harm, a monster wouldn’t do that, so don’t ever say that again about yourself!” She was quite flushed and had her fists clenched as she spoke, her voice heavy with conviction.  
Abel nearly dropped his cup when she had stood up, his face clearly showing his shock at her vehemence.   
Esther sighed and got her emotions back under control, she reached forward and touched his cheek.  
“Forgive me Father, you’re too good a man to be a monster. I know truly now what you’re capable of and lord knows we need you more than ever. As you once told me, I’m on your side and I will be your friend as you’ve been mine all these years.”  
Abel smiled warmly up at her and with blue eyes brightened with emotion, nodded.  
“Thank you Esther,” he said softly. He took her hand away from his face, gave it a squeeze and released it. No other words could portray his feelings of thankfulness at her declaration.   
William coughed politely, “Lord Walsh what are the plans from Albion going forward?”  
“Ah yes, after the massacre of the House of Lords, death of Queen Bridget and a substantial loss of life within the city it looks like Albion is in need of repair. What lords remain have chosen to elevate Miss Esther to be crowned tomorrow to help with both political and public relations. A few of us have stepped forward to guide our young queen at this turbulent time. I do hope with this change that the ghetto will have a chance to be known for our people and not just our technology… as I do have some disgruntled residents who struggle with our shadowed existence. But we must take it slowly since the Inquisition is now aware of our residence, if Pope Alessandro can continue to support our acceptance, things might really come around.”  
Everyone nodded in agreement of Virgil’s words and hope for a better future.  
“Well Esther it looks like you really have your work cut out for you. But I think truly you’re the lady for the job. I will be leaving after your coronation, the Empire has requested I return for a time, which since my position at AX is...um...well done in, it’s a good place to start my search for him.”  
“Have you spoken with Cardinal Caterina?” Esther asked  
“Yes, she was one of my first visitors once I came around. She is aware of my plans and I will do my best to be in somewhat regular contact.”  
“That’s all I can hope for, if I can’t be your partner I want to at least know you have others looking out for you.” She smiled a bit sadly.  
Virgil checked his pocket watch and stood up.  
“I sincerely apologize but there is much yet to do Miss Esther, we really need to continue our day…”  
Everyone else stood up, Abel again banging his knee on the table and clanking the teacups on their saucers.  
“Oh Father, even being back from the dead you still have no grace,” Esther teased and gave him a friendly hug before leaving.   
Virgil nodded in farewell and followed her out.

Abel sighed to himself and looked to the professor.  
“Would Tres be any help before I leave?”  
“He’s still in repairs actually. His circuitry took a major hit and I have him on a sleep mode until I can source more materials for him. Lord Walsh has promised assistance after the coronation.”  
“Then perhaps I should go ready myself for my journey. Being um… retired from AX do I get any money for my efforts?” He asked hopefully.  
William laughed and patted him on the shoulder as they left the meeting rooms.  
“Your retirement fund is something Caterina kept well stocked for you. I will take your bills to her to deal with one last time. Something about funeral costs are a write off.” Both men smirked a little about the tedious nature of books.  
They made their way to the market area of the ghetto since the Terran markets were closed for the day. Abel was able to pick up several sets of suitable traveling clothes and gloves. He wanted something that would absorb some of the electricity he tended to emit now.   
Once back at the room, Abel was happy to sit and take in some late supper. The nanomachines had stayed quiet until the last vendor when some of their electronics reacted to his static charge. Thankfully William had stayed around just in case.   
“Your system has gotten even higher in its metabolism than before. I know you won’t like hearing this but… you need more blood in your diet to keep things... quiet.” William said as he chewed on his pipe while sitting in Abel’s room.  
Abel sighed as he finished the last bites of his meal. How to solve this issue without blood or copious amounts of food was tricky. Before he just kept the crusinik barely sustained with sugar and when forced took blood from the vampires they killed. Now he was going to be surrounded by dreadful temptations for a fully fused crusnik.  
“I could see about doing a similar pill form that they use for their blood needs but it will take me some time.. If you have trouble keeping it down, perhaps letting the Duchess of Kiev know exactly what you are and need to remain stable.” William mused as he noticed Abel’s discomfort rising as he mulled over the issue.  
“Perhaps you are right, but I will wait till we are back to the Empire since if I am to travel alone at least she is safely home. There is no where here I can get a good chance at understanding what changes have happened to me without causing a scene… not without going to the forgotten areas of the facility, and honestly it’s best left untouched even from me. So far I have an easily triggered electrical field, and activation that does not need commands just want or intent… I will need to be more mentally aware of it than before I guess.”  
“Fair enough. Well I need to retire for the night, want me to come find you before the coronation?”  
“No, I will find you and Caterina before I leave, no worries there. Please get your rest, I’m sure you need a break from watching me all day.”  
William smiled and tucked his pipe away. When he got up he patted Abel’s shoulder and let himself out.  
Once alone Abel fussed with his packing, making sure it was all going to fit in his old suitcase. Surprisingly his spare set of priest robes were still tucked inside. A note written in Caterina’s stylized lettering read “you never know when some faith can come in handy. -C.” He smiled as his ran his thumb along the writing before placing it back with the robes. He was grateful that she had the foresight to give him a way to gather information. Most of the smaller frontier towns were suspicious of a random stranger asking questions, and yet they bubbled with information when a priest asked. Humans were an odd bunch overall, he mused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now im nearly caught up to the last manga chapter. This was a hard one to write but thankfully Tb scans are a treasure trove of information :-) I probably got some stuff a bit out of order but after this chapter I get to go my own way after giving the canon its due appreciation.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asthe takes a stroll and Abel has a dream...

Asthe was restless, she knew Abel needed time to get things sorted, but being cooped up in a small room was getting on her nerves. It was over two weeks since they left the Empire, and she really needed to get back. Sighing, she grabbed her coat and went out into the hall. Looking both ways she settled on going left.  
There was little damage to the walls here, and slowly she came upon the underground city. It was shocking to see the ingenuity used to build housing and stores from top to bottom, no space was wasted yet it wasn’t cluttered. Housing was higher up with large catwalks accessing them, and the stores and workshops on the main level. She guessed the area to be about 10-12 stories in height and roughly equivalent to two city blocks at the Empire. The empress would be intrigued to hear about this place.  
Asthe wandered along the vendors casually looking at the clothing, food and various wares. She picked up a few changes of clothes that she felt might be better for her journeys into the Outer than what she had. The styles here were a lot more covering, with plaids and soft wools, earthy tones rather than the jewel tones of the Empire.  
“Well, I think I’ve reached my suitcase limit.” She said to herself as she spied a small food vendor.  
Remembering how Abel would eat heavy at any chance, having some snacks on hand was perhaps a good thing to do, as well as get herself a decent supper.  
On her way back she stopped at Ion Fortuna’s room. He was apparently out… likely trying to bother Esther, she figured. While a romantic relationship with terrans was just not done, it was good for the young lord to be around Esther, she inspired him in ways that no one else had. It was really too bad that Esther was Terran, and now the Queen of Albion. Between a fleeting lifespan and responsibilities the two kids would likely spend only moments together after this.  
Returning to her room, she packed away her purchases and casually nibbled at her meal of steamed vegetables and pasta.  
The early negotiations with Caterina were finished for now and Albion was obviously not in a state to entertain such ideas. Through, the methuselah community would likely be overjoyed at the idea of contact with the Empire.. ugh politics was tiring work, she wasn’t sure she was cut out to keep being the go between. If only Abel would message her so that they could leave soon, this state of waiting was frustrating.  
She sighed looking at the clock, maybe he was back from his meetings.  
A little while later she knocked on his door, half expecting no answer.

“Oh, hello Asthe! This is good timing since it dawned on me that I had no idea where you were staying at, and going door to door seemed excessive.” Abel said, bashfully rubbing the back of his head.  
Asthe rolled her eyes and walked into his room. On the bed was his suitcase and it looked full.  
“Are you leaving with or without me?” She arched an eyebrow at him.  
He chuckled and shook his head.  
“As long as the offer was still on the table to go with, I would prefer that to walking.”  
“Good, this waiting around has me going batty.”  
Abel got a weird look on his face, and then laughed.  
“What? Did I say something wrong?” She demanded, confused at his amusement.  
“Ah no, just ah because of some literature I once read, vampires turning into bats as a common belief or folklore from long ago.” He was rewarded with a disbelieving snort from his lovely companion.  
“That’s impossible, we might need blood but a bat is like the size of a...a squirrel, where would the rest of my mass go?”  
He almost couldn’t contain his mirth. “Magic.”  
She rolled her eyes again and sat down in the other chair.  
“What is the plan for tomorrow then, tovarish?” She asked, changing the subject. He really could be such a fool.  
“I need to see a few people and hopefully catch a moment with Esther, then it would be best to be on our way.”  
“That works as I don’t think I could talk Ion out of missing her coronation anyway.”  
“No, I bet not.” He smirked. “They are quite the pair together.”  
“It has been good for him to see her again, and it will likely be the last time they can talk freely.”  
He nodded and it seemed like he was going to say more when he frowned, closing his eyes briefly.  
She reached forward and placed her hand over his, “are you ok?”  
He startled at her touch and looked at her blankly for a moment. His eyes looked slightly red to her. Something was definitely wrong. His skin seemed a bit dark too.  
“Sorry! Just ah a bit of a… dizzy spell really.” He patted her hand quickly and moved away, breaking contact abruptly.  
Asthe felt he wasn’t exactly truthful but it wasn’t her place to pry.  
She watched him go over to his bags and grab out a small bit of food.  
“Well it’s going to be a busy day tomorrow, I’m sure you have a few more things to do.” Abel said after quickly eating his snack, and Asthe knew a dismissal when she heard one.  
“Take it easy and rest up, I will take care of the arrangements for our ship. You look like you have overdone it today perhaps.”  
He nodded, but wouldn’t meet her eyes.  
“Do you need a doctor?”  
“You are probably right, pushed my limits… I will see you tomorrow, thanks tovarish.”  
She was a little puzzled by his reactions, but then again he was Abel.

Once she was out of the room, Abel took a deep breath. Everything had been good when suddenly he couldn’t think, let alone speak because the crusnik was almost salivating at the closeness of fresh bacillus filled blood. His teeth has begun to lengthen when she had touched his hand. Luckily it jarred him enough to push back the transformation. Food had barely interrupted the imagines of him attacking her, the crusnik’s dark yearnings clamoured for release.  
“First it’s activating without commands, then generating electricity randomly and now this… How am I going to get a handle on this?” He muttered to himself, pacing in his little room. Full fusion seemed to have removed some of the division between himself and 02. It was a terrifying thought, his beast taking over more control than it had before.  
Seth… Seth must have something in place to cope with the nanomachines. The faster he could get to her the better itwould be. The journey there would take roughly eight hours, which he could plead illness and try to sleep the entire trip. Otherwise he might have to confess his monstrous side to Asthe just for her safety.  
Remembering an earlier thought, Abel tried to quiet his mind by holding Lilith’s cross to his forehead, praying it would perhaps coax her nanomachines to sooth his.  
Slowly a cooling sensation came, starting in his chest and working along his major veins. The image of her lovely face replaced the black violence within. Taking long slow breaths, Abel felt things return to normal and the cooling sensation faded.  
“If you are within me, you have my thanks dear Lilith.” He said aloud, giving a light kiss to the cross.  
Feeling quite drained, Abel got himself around for bed, and within moments was crashing into a restless slumber. His dreams were a kaleidoscope of long ago memories, flashes of the UN base he grew up in, the first years on Mars and the realization that Earth had forgotten them. Anger, frustration and resentment all bubbled to the surface within him.  
Outside of his room, electrical systems were suffering from power surges of varying levels including a blown out lights. Maintenance workers were frantically searching for where the shorts in the power supply was coming from, reasoning that perhaps some damage from the fighting had degraded the wiring.  
Abel felt trapped, unable to wake as his emotions roiled within. Dark whispers of destruction and gluttonous bloodshed became louder, he thrashed against his blankets and a mantra “no, never...I won’t!” Was spoken in tormented raspy tones. The images became more of the war, the millions of terrans he decimated with his crusink powers. It was brutal and dripping in red… until Lilith’s sweet face filled his vision.  
“Abel! Come back to me, you are more than this!” Her lyrical voice cried in his mind.  
He watched her reach out and caress his face.  
“I am with you now, let me help you.”  
“Lilith…. How are you here?”  
“When the nanomachines transfer to a new host they carry aspects of their last. I am… like a consciousness to them, a file copied and coded to the machines to give direction. It’s why 02 tries to drive you to extreme violence as the previous host was a dangerous entity.”  
Abel blinked as he mulled over her words.  
“So you’re like a sentient program that absorbed her personality?”  
“Possibly, or I am perhaps a sliver of the soul that the nanomachines clung to at our death. It’s hard to say, this is kind of a new awareness. I like to think a part of me is here now, more so than a program as you will.”  
“I had hoped you were with me, as crazy as it seemed, you’ve helped me twice now.”  
“Yes, it will take us a while to adjust, and unless you are in this deep dreaming state I am unable to do more than calm 02 down and divert him when he gets... rambunctious. It appears in this mental state you are able to bypass him and I am able to project myself to you.” She smiled softly. “As your consciousness went deeper he flailed around giving you that awful bit of bloody memories. I don’t know what exactly full fusion has done but he wants control of you... I am so glad you were able to focus on my voice.”  
“This does change things. I need to find a way to reinstate the restrictions somehow.” He paused and looked into her eyes, as tears began to flow freely down his face. “I feel a lot better knowing you are here… that I didn’t lose you entirely to Cain….I… have missed you.”  
She smiled again, stepping forward to embrace him, “I’ve seen how you’ve suffered Abel, it’s time to leave the past and look to the sunrise. I am forever with you now.”  
He sank into her open arms.  
“I can not forgive myself yet, I must stop him before he destroys what’s left of our world.” He whispered into her red hair. Slowly everything faded to black and he slipped into a peaceful slumber.

Morning seemed to come too soon, groggily Abel got himself around, dressing in his new clothes and setting aside the borrowed set. It was a bit odd to wear something that wasn’t a uniform, since most of his life had been somewhat regimented. William was very helpful with picking out stuff that was similar to his priest uniforms in cut and darker colours.  
Clipping the chain of Lilith’s cross to allow it to hang inside his overcoat and close to his body, he felt like he was ready to start this new chapter in his long life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely sure I like how this went... the dream sequence came first as I struggled with how to start this chapter. Once we get to the Empire I have a lot more planned out... 
> 
> Thanks for the reading :-)


	5. Coronation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few goodbyes and gifts.

William was waiting near the entrance of the underground when Abel stepped out.   
“Good morning, good sir.” William greeted him warmly.  
“Professor! I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”  
“Oh just a little, Caterina asked me to accompany you to meet up with her. So, how are you holding up?”  
The men started walking towards the main buildings. It was a cloudy day, not quite rain yet but in Londonium it was always a step away from a shower.  
“I had a few rough spots last night but… I think I am on my way to getting a handle on it. The nanomachines are a bit more sentient than you and I first thought.”  
William’s expression sharpened with curiosity. “Oh? I admit it’s something I’ve wondered.. will you tell me more about it?”  
Abel had always liked that about William, he never pushed him no matter how badly his scientific mind wanted to dissect the mystery that the crusnik presented, and it built between them a strong bond of trust.   
“Hmm, well... it does seem that the nanomachines absorb some of the consciousness of their previous host… which is part of why I believe I’m having trouble right now. Also, not all of my nanomachines are 02… Caterina had Tres give me what was left of 04, and some of her awareness transferred to me… and luckily she was a much more reasonable host than whatever 02 had..”  
William Walter Wordsworth was rarely without something to say. He looked at his silver haired friend, the paleness of his skin, and the wintery cast of his blue eyes as his mind rapidly processed the fact that there was now two sentient forms inside of that tall lanky frame. William stopped and dug out his pipe.   
“So… what will happen when you activate the crusnik?” He asked as he Iit his pipe.  
“I hope it will be the same as before, once I can figure out how to get the restrictions back in place. Remembering how we had deduced the nanomachines to being a complex set of programs, well some of the uh… firewalls per say were torn down when I went to 100%. Cain appears to have fallen fully to his crusnik, the host overtaken by the virus or more like the symbiote… what I must avoid at all costs..” Abel looked past William and towards the far horizon. “I hope to stay stable enough to get more answers while in the Empire. From there perhaps I can have my monsters working with me instead of against, right?”  
“That is the hope,,” he paused, grinning around his pipe. “When you stop tripping on your feet and eating everything in sight… you can do some pretty amazing things.”  
Abel grinned back and started walking again.  
“Leaping out of a coffin has done wonders for my coordination, but I do seem to eat more.” Abel remarked   
William gave him a sidelong glance and chuckled.  
“Some sarcastic wit must have come out of that pine box too.”  
Abel laughed and nodded. “Perhaps.”

Once inside the palace, they could see the general hectic chaos of the many workers sent in to do the last repairs before the afternoon coronation. They weaved around the busy men and women, slowly heading towards the common area that Caterina had said she would be in.  
Along the way, Abel did catch a quick glimpse of Virgil looking distractly at some notes, beside him was surprisingly, Ion. Abel waved towards them, Virgil was too absorbed in his task notice, but Ion did and he waved back enthusiastically.  
“Ion is about in the daytime?” Abel questioned aloud.  
“Hmm? Oh, the young lord, yes apparently using silver nitrate depletes the bacillus to where they can tolerate low sunlight environments. It was something Lord Walsh had developed so he could serve Queen Bridget better. I guess for the first while it hurts like the dickens as it eats the bacillus cells, so I’m a bit impressed to see Lord Fortuna taking the plunge to be around Esther more.”  
“I’m not surprised, he would do it as he holds her in high esteem. But that’s very interesting about the silver nitrate, I’m curious if the nanomachines would react to him.”  
William paused thoughtfully. “From what we know of them, it shouldn’t react… even with your levels.”  
Abel nodded and they continued on their way.

Cardinal Caterina sat in an informal meeting room that had been spared from the damage parts of the wing had taken. She sat comfortably in one of the chairs, a slender figure with abundant blonde curls that draped across her shoulders under her large cardinal cap. A full service of tea sat before her, Abel was expected given the amount of buns, cookies and other light snacks.  
“Good morning gentlemen,” she said as they entered the room and settled around the table.  
“Your Eminence, I trust you have been well?” Abel said as he found a chair that somewhat fit, and poured tea. He remembered her words at their last meeting, how the lady of steel had said her goodbye to her agent and friend.  
“I have, thank you Abel. I was able to get some information for you about the Order since the incident here. Some members have been spotted near the Outer lands to the East, south of the Empire and a few officers in Carthage. No word on Cain or his butler yet… the few who were spotted was due to a bit of terrorist bombings that could be a smoke screen to cover their tracks.”  
“That is very helpful, I hope I can pick up some sort of trail once I get to the Empire. They are trying to access ancient technology and I know of a few more locations. Lord Walsh needs to be vigilant as they might try here again.”  
“I will relay that to him. So, you have agreed to travel with the Duchess of Kiev?”  
“Yes, with your suggestion as well as some answers I can only find within the Empirer.”  
Caterina nodded, and paused to drink some tea. Abel took the break to have some food, since his stomach was starting to growl.   
“How will we stay in contact with you? What method?” William asked since he was done his tea first.  
“Can I contact you though Sister Kate? If I’m given an access code I should be able to transmit to the Iron Maiden. It would keep things away from the Vatican directly. I truly don’t want to cause issues within for you Caterina.”  
“That would work, do the same formats as you’ve done when on assignment, I will talk it over with her and bring you the codes before you leave.” William answered.   
Caterina reached over to a velvet bag beside her chair, she picked it up and handed it to Abel.  
“No one else would use your old pistol, so I had it cleaned up and repaired.”  
Abel took out his peacemaker revolver, gun holster and a cartridge of .38 bullets.   
“It is a pretty decent gun, but again other than you two everyone thinks I use it because I can’t see... I admit that with everything going on, my gun wasn’t even a flicker in my mind, I am so glad you remembered.” He paused and then looked up at them. “I will truly struggle without you both.” He carefully set his things back in the bag to strap into himself later.  
“It will be quite the experience I’m sure. I do hope that you can convince Astharoshe to join you when you go after him.” Her eyes softened for a moment before she reached down to look at her watch.  
“It’s almost time for the coronation. I must do a few more things.”  
“Of course! Thank you again, Caterina… and I will see you again, I promise.” Abel said solemnly, reaching over to place his hand lightly on hers for a moment.  
She smiled warmly, reminding him of the young girl she once was. “I’ll hold you to that.”  
Once Caterina had left the room, Abel quickly finished off the food since he was going to be in public for a while and who knows what the crusink would respond to.   
“The coronation will be in about an hour, how soon are you leaving for the Empire?” William asked.  
“As soon as Asthe can get Ion on the ship.”  
He nodded and checked the clock again. “Ok, well if you want to see Esther I believe she will be through that door and one more room to a grey door with a yellow handle. I’ll sit here for a bit, when you get back we can find a spot out in the crowd, best to rest my old bones when I can,” he smirked and lit his pipe, waving Abel to go.  
Abel smiled and took the cue to leave.

Esther was standing in a smaller drawing room, nervously smoothing the heavy decorated gown she was in. White with gold beadwork, a high pre-Armageddon style called Victorian, that was from another Albion Queen, over a thousand years ago. At least that’s what her maids told her.  
She had asked for a quiet room to be in for a while once dressed, hoping Abel would be have a chance to see her like he said. Professor and Caterina had agreed to make it happen.  
Abel opened the door and quietly closed it behind him, turning towards Esther he smiled warmly.  
“You look amazing! And yet… how do you breathe or walk in that?”  
“I’m not entirely sure to be honest, I just stay upright and hope for the best.”  
“I know you will do wonderful, you have done so much already and now you truly have the power to do more. You were a great partner for our missions and watched over me with true compassion.” He watched her eyes water a bit as he spoke, so he moved closer and took her hands in his.  
“I’m thankful we have this brief moment before we go down different paths. But I am most grateful that you were there when I came back… to give me a reason to fight him instead of staying adrift.”  
“Oh Father Nightroad… sorry Abel… I can’t even begin to say thanks, you… you have been my rock since the beginning, clumsy, foolish and yet always right where I needed you.” A few tears spilled from her azure blue eyes.  
“Hey now, you’ll wreck your makeup.” He playfully scolded her and glanced around the room for a box of tissues.  
She chuckled a little and carefully wiped her tears with a small cloth she had tucked into her sleeve.   
“I was prepared for a few tears… I hope you can come back soon. There is so much I have to learn and if you were here.. it wouldn’t be so daunting.”  
“I will come back, this isn’t goodbye Esther it is just time that we must walk different roads. Trust your heart, Lord Walsh seems a good sort to help you, among a few others I’m sure will come up.” He leaned down and gently kissed her cheek, lightly to avoid makeup smudge.  
“Make me proud, I will stay in contact with William and I’m sure he will find a way to keep you in the know.”  
She smiled and reached up to hug him briefly.  
“Ok, Father Nightroad. I’ll make you proud, you can count on that.”  
A respectful knock sounded from behind Esther. It was the signal for her to make her way to the ceremony.  
Abel smiled at his young friend, bowed low in respect. “Queen Esther, your kingdom awaits.”  
She laughed softly and curtsied in return. “Until we meet again.” She watched him turn and leave the room before gathering her courage to start her new life.

Abel and William found some spots to watch the event. It was a grand affair with all the proper pomp and circumstance a coronation would deserve. As soon as the crown and sceptre was in Esther's possession, Abel could see her straighten her spine and soldier into her new role.   
“She will be good for Albion, and now I must find my ship and get on my own journey.” Abel said standing up and gathering his coat.  
“Is it dark enough for Asthe to get around?”  
“I think so… she didn’t really say anything about when we would leave except after the ceremony.”  
“Ah, women like to be so vague with times… truly a mystery how they think.” William smirked as he shuffled out of the seating area with Abel. “Oh, before it slips my mind, here’s the codes for contacting Sister Kate.” He handed a small card to Abel.  
“Right, can’t be forgetting this after all the reminders to check in.” He smirked and tucked it away in his pockets.

The sky’s had finally decided to open up with a chilly downpour. The crowd was dispersing quickly now as it was a noticeably ugly cold rain. The men made their way back to the entrance to the underground, hoping to catch either Ion or Asthe.   
Asthe was leaned up against a lamp post idly crowd watching. Her bags were set by her feet, and Abel spied his suitcase rested along with.   
“I was almost ready to send a search party,” she teased as they walked up to her.  
“Ah well it was rather well attended… has Ion returned yet?”  
“Yes he is just getting his bags now… I asked Lord Walsh to have your suitcase brought up, hope that was ok.”  
“Oh yes. Remember we are flying because I don’t want to walk anymore than necessary.” He grinned and knelt down to put his gun and accessories in his bag instead of tucked in his coat.   
William coughed politely, catching Abel’s eye.  
“You know how much I hate tearful farewells… so contact me as you can, I will work on the few things for you as fast as possible and let’s see each other again.”   
Abel walked over and offered his hand to William.  
“I can’t thank you enough my friend.”   
“Staying alive is thanks enough for me.” William grinned a little at his cleverness, shaking Abel’s hand.  
Abel chuckled and stepped back, “I’ll do my best.”  
William nodded and left Abel and Asthe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This lines up somewhat with the last manga release. From here on it’s all my own head cannon on how the rest of the story goes. :)
> 
> Thanks again for reading.


	6. Flight to the Empire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally on their way...

Astharoshe Asran had a strong noble bearing and touch of hot blood that's caused her trouble more times than she cared to admit. If a certain silver haired priest not taken the time to show her the carnage her temper had caused in Venice, she probably wouldn’t even be around. He was like a cold splash of water on her fiery rage and for all his awkward clumsy had been invaluable in the discovery of the hardliners a few years ago in the Empire. Truly a puzzle of a man… who had acted so oddly last night. Her golden eyes watched him as he said his goodbyes to William. Everything seemed back to normal, though she could see tension in his shoulders and a slight furrow at his brow. Very odd, she couldn’t remember seeing him look that agitated before.   
“Ion better hurry up or he has to walk back.” She grumbled.  
“Is the ship waiting for us?” Abel asked when he returned, she could see he was fidgeting with his cross distractedly.   
“I arranged a car to come and take us to the dock, it should be here any time now.”  
“Um, how are you handling the daylight? I know it’s not sunny out or anything. But the UV rays…”  
“Is that’s what has you worried? Keep picturing me going up like a torch?” She gave him a small grin, a teasing tone to her voice.  
“Ah, well I hope you won’t do that, it makes a terrible mess when vamp..er... methuselah do that.”  
She chuckled, “I am shielded from the UV rays by both a special bodysuit and a cream. Today I am not flammable.”   
A young slender man, looking maybe to be mid teens can running out the entry door. A mop of blond hair, large garnet red eyes and an almost too pretty face looked up at the pair.  
“Sorry I am so late… the coronation and saying farewell to Esther and Lord Walsh took longer than I thought.”  
“About time Ion, I was getting ready to leave without you.” Astha scolded.  
“I wouldn’t mind staying here. There is so much to learn…”   
“Perhaps once things settle you can come back to work with Lord Walsh?” Abel suggested, as he has seen the boy earlier working with Virgil.  
“I hope that can be a possibility. I can’t wait to come back and we haven't even left yet.” Ion gushed with youthful enthusiasm.

A blacked out car pulled up to them and a man climbed out stating he was taking them to the docks. The three grabbed their bags and got in the car. Abel sat himself where Ion was between him and Astha. She noticed he still looked a bit tense, his jaw was visibly clenched occasionally and he kept his eyes closed a fair bit, perhaps he gets carsick? She wondered. She couldn’t remember him being bothered by travel before… but he had been in a coma so possibly he had equilibrium issues now?  
Thankfully the cab ride wasn’t very long with Ion chattering on about the ceremony, comparing it to when the Empress holds special events, Abel seemed to appreciate the distraction. Soon they were out of the car and taking their bags to the airship. 

Their ship was more a courier than the normal passenger style with only a few rooms for passengers and the rest was for smaller cargo.   
“Duchess of Kiev, please come this way,” a young woman said from the entrance ramp while another young man came up to take their bags with a trolley. Astha looked at her companions and nodded towards the ramp.  
“It will take till morning to reach the Empire, my Lady, please rest here in the common room or in the guest rooms until we land next. We were advised to make this trip non stop.” The young attendant bowed and left them to their own devices.  
The common room had several couches, a small bookcase that was about half full of books, and a sideboard that looked to hold various tabletop games. To the other wall was a small refreshment cart, Astha mused that Abel would likely have it empty in no time. Sighing she decided to head to her room as the UV cream was irritating to her skin and wanted to get out of the sun suit anyway.

Abel saw Astha leave and let out a breath of relief, finally he could relax a little since his nanomachines had been fighting him once William was gone. He flopped down on the couch and stretched out a bit, happy to have some space. Ion, having done the silver nitrate injections was not causing any problems for Abel and was truly more like a terran than a methuselah. It was such a relief, as it would likely take several days for Ion to have enough bacillus to temp the crusink. Abel wasn’t sure if he could talk Astha into that, not without explaining why it would make his life better anyway. Tomorrow he would see Seth, and she had to have a way around this, being how long she has lived immersed with the methuselah. 

“So, how did you get hurt anyway? No one really said much to me about it other than you were in a coma. Are you all back to normal now?” Ion asked from the other couch near the sideboard. He had found a deck of cards and was dealing out some kind of game.  
“It was a bad … head injury I got when I surprised someone in a room underground, they were trying to steal some of the ancient technology. It’s not common for me to get that caught off guard and well, things didn’t go well for me, obviously.”   
“It did seem upsetting for everyone how hurt you were. Are you coming to the Empire for the Cardinal again?”  
“Not this time, I’m doing this on a more personal level.”  
“Is that’s why you’re not wearing your robes?”  
Abel sighed, it was a logical assumption that he was still with the Vatican.  
“I’m on a bit of a...leave of absence right now because of my injuries and some other issues have come up for me to deal with.”  
Ion nodded as he looked over his game, seeming to take the information as the end of the conversation. Abel got up and investigated the refreshment cart, feeling that Astha would be back sooner than later and he wanted to quiet his hungry monster.

Astha had changed into her regular empire clothes, structured thigh length dresses of white, embellished with gold and accent swatches of navy blue. Her tall white empire boots went over her knee but were of a lower heel, since Astha was taller than most females. There was a simplicity to the Albion fashions but Astha enjoyed the overall elegance and commanding presence of the empire.   
Reaching into her pack she got out her communicator to see if there was were more instructions from the palace. The light flashed indicting an awaiting transmission. Flipping open the palm sized device a hologram appeared of the Empress.  
“Duchess of Kiev, I hope that you are on your way in haste to the Empire. I need Abel to come to the palace as soon as you land. I will have Baybars waiting for you at the docks.”  
“Wow, she is in a hurry.” She said aloud after closing the communicator and putting it back in her pack.

She walked back to the common room, Ion was playing with cards but looked tired. Abel was sprawled on the larger couch, his glasses askew as he had fallen asleep reading apparently. An empty plate rested on the coffee table.   
“Has he been asleep long?” She asked as she approached Ion, having grabbed some snacks from the cart and a glass of water.  
“He ate a huge plate of food, grabbed a book and I think maybe read two pages and he was out. He said he had a bad head injury so I wasn’t sure if sleep was good or bad, so wanted to wait till you got back to wake him.”  
“I’m not a physician but I’m sure sleep is good for anyone recovering from injuries.”  
“Ok, he does seem exhausted, and after my injections I can understand it.”  
“Injections?”  
“Silver nitrate, Lord Walsh does them to allow him to be out and about during the day in Albion, I talked him into letting me use it while there to spend more time with Esther.”  
Astha shuddered at the thought of silver.   
“Sounds awful to me. Perhaps you should up your water of life and get some rest. The Empress wants him at the palace immediately on our arrival.”  
“I wonder why the Empress is so concerned for him, he’s just a terran and not really that exceptional.”  
“He saved you didn’t he? More than once I believe.”  
Ion grimaced and nodded, looking down a bit ashamed. “Right he did. He perhaps is a bit more than just an average Terran I guess.”  
“There must be a reason for the Empress to be needing him, it’s our duty to make sure he gets there. How about you go rest, I’ll watch over him till he wakes.”  
Ion sighed and collected up the cards, Astha waved him to leave them on the table. He nodded and left the room. 

Finally tired of seeming to lose every card game she could remember, Astha got up to peruse the books in the shelf near Abel’s couch.  
He had been asleep now for quite a while and no sign of waking. She half turned towards him, taking the opportunity to look at him without his notice.  
He was easy to look at, handsome features with an aquiline nose, high cheekbones and a strong smooth jawline. He was still a bit haggard from his injury, a tad thin perhaps as his features were still hollowed but he was already improved from the other day. His pale skin and silver hair was so striking and unusual. His long eyelashes were something she hadn’t noticed before, men always seemed to get the longest eyelashes. His glasses had slipped down his face and rested at a precarious angle on the bridge of his nose. Her fingers twitched to remove them before they fell on the floor but didn’t want to wake him. Slack jawed in slumber, a slight snore startled Astha from her intent study of his features. She shook her head, embarrassed but thankful he didn’t wake up. Ruefully rubbing the back of her head she grabbed a random book and walked over to the window that looked out the side of the ship.

Darkness enshrouded the land, few lights flickered from below. They were just over halfway to the Empire now, the small ship was making good time.  
She flipped open the book to a random page and was glancing over the text when a moving light caught her attention.  
A small red light moved again to the far side of the ship, it was hard to tell how far away it was. She set the book down and focused more on the light as it was moving forward, against the travel of the ship. Then it did an odd zig zag motion, still unable to pinpoint how far away it was in the cloaking black of night.  
“How odd…” she said aloud.   
Suddenly the light flashed a white halo of light before going dark and disappearing from her sight.  
Something felt wrong, Astha decided it was time to wake Abel. Moving quickly across the room, she had just set her hand on his shoulder when the ship lurched from impact.  
“Abel!” She barked his name as she slammed onto his body.  
Emergency lights flashed on in the room and alarms sounded with piercing volume. Another violent shudder shook the ship again.  
Abel came awake in a rush, not recognizing Astha he tossed her across the room, standing up in a fighting stance. Electrical currents snaked around his arms and body, his eyes were darkening to red as he assessed the situation. He gasped in shock when he identified the sprawled body on the floor as Astha.   
“Oh no!” His voice was muffled by his sharpened teeth. He shook his head, to clear away the fog of the crusnik before he did anything more he would regret.  
“We have been struck by an unknown object, please get to the cargo room as it has emergency equipment if needed.” One of the pilots said over the intercom.  
Abel hurried over to Astha to help her up, hoping he hadn’t hurt her too badly when she went sailing across the room, knocking over the food cart.  
He clenched his jaw to stop the electrical surge he felt again, the crusnik was getting unruly being denied food.  
“Astha! Are you ok?”  
She nodded and took his offered hand to stand up, she looked at him warily for a moment before scanning the room.  
“I think we are under attack, I saw something with a red light that flashed moments before it struck!” She half yelled as the alarms were so loud.  
Ion ran into the room then, he had been in the guest quarters near the back of the ship.  
“What’s happening?!”   
Abel moved over to the window, smoke could be seen coming from the one side of the ship and it looked like possibly an engine was affected.  
“I think we have been hit by something, an engine looks damaged.” Abel’s keen eyes caught movement ahead of them, a red speck in the darkness that was steadily getting bigger.  
“We better get to the back of the ship! That looks like another missile!” He turned and grabbed both Astha and Ion’s shoulders pushing them towards the hallway.   
Abel reached over to grab his bag and glasses before running after them.  
“We are beginning to lose altitude, the ship is not equipped for damage. Please get to the cargo bay everyone!” The panicked voice of the pilot came over the intercom.  
Astha seeing Abel had grabbed his bag, quickly got hers as well as her spear. It looked like they might have to get off the ship fast if it was going down.  
Booom! Another heavy hit to the ship, this one to the front and they could feel the ship lag under the impact and dip down. Abel looked around the small cargo bay for parachutes or whatever emergency equipment was supposed to be on this thing.  
“That last hit was on the front… so you think the pilots are ok?” Astha asked as she looked back at the doorway.  
“If you and Ion find the emergency gear then I’ll run up front for the pilots… hopefully that blast wasn’t in the cockpit. I think we are going to have to bail so be ready.”  
He quickly ran back up the hallway and to the cockpit. The door showed some damage as he reefed it open. Inside, the rush of air from the broken windows nearly knocked Abel back, the glass was shattered and he could see the pilots were slumped over in their chairs. He got up to the controls, splattered with blood, he had to rub his arm along the dash, to clear the screens enough to see. The crusnik leaped against Abel’s mental restraints, eager for their methuselah blood. Abel’s eyes flickered between blue and red as his beast thrashed for release, frenzied for the meal in front of it. He gritted his teeth and held his breath, chanting in his mind Liliths name, hoping she could give him strength to focus on the bigger issue of the ship going down.  
“Abel! Let us feed! These souls are gone now and we need strength!” Lilith’s voice yelled from within his mind.  
He let go of his held breath and nodded, allowing the transformation. “Crusnik 02 activation 40% confirmed.” Abel’s eyes no longer flickered between his blue and the crusnik’s red, his fangs now easily visible against his darkened lips. The crusnik’s ability of telekinesis to absorb blood from its surroundings went quickly to work, taking in the spilled blood from the controls of the ship and pools of blood on the floor by the chairs.   
Abel focused on the screens to see how damaged the ship was… his talons making the typing hard to manage.  
The ship was only using one engine and losing altitude at an increasing rate, luckily it was still a fairly flat descent. He looked back at the dead pilots, cleaned of blood and sighed, reaching forward to close their lifeless eyes.   
It was going to be a crash landing, and just how was he going to get Ion and Astha to ground safely? 02 growled within his mind wanting to go after the female and take the glorious blood within her, run to ground and continue the hunt for more, always hungry for more.   
“No!” Abel shouted aloud, the wind in the cockpit buffeting against his form. He looked outside the ship and spotted a red light. Another rocket was coming at the front of the ship, speeding towards Abel.  
“Activate 80%!” he called forth his blood scythe and his large black wings burst from his back in a flurry of blood, feathers and fabric.  
Abel dashed forward out of the damaged glass and onto the destroyed nose of the ship, his scythe held in his right hand, the blade lowered. He took a quick breath and jumped forward again, his wings doing a hard downward stroke, electricity crackling along the obsidian coloured feathers. He had to get to the rocket before it got closer to the ship or it would plummet! Faster, I need to be there faster! He mentally chanted, pumping his wings and angling himself directly at the rocket. Bringing up the scythe he readied his blow.  
Boom! His scythe knocked the armoured casing aside, changing the trajectory to the right and away from the ship. The rocket exploded mere moments later knocking Abel backwards and onto the wing of the ship. His blood scythe discinerated at impact, it’s skeletal features absorbing into Abel’s hand. His great wings flared out as he grappled to hang onto the wing. His talons pierced the metal as he pulled himself along to the body of the ship, folding his wings to stop pull of the wind.  
He shook his head to get his bearings, it wouldn’t be much longer before the treetops would be an issue, and rocky terrain was all around. He needed to get to Astha and Ion quickly! He grabbed fistfuls of metal as he pulled himself back up to the smashed windows of the cockpit.  
Once back on his feet, he gritted his teeth and commanded the crusnik to stand down, return to 0 percent activation. 02 let go of Abel’s body and returned to its dormant state, simmering at the possibility of more action to come. Liliths cool presence instantly rushed down his limbs and core to settle 02 down.  
“God bless you Lilith.” Abel whispered as he ran to the back of the ship where he had left the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kept wanting to go so many different ways! I hope it is ok for those of you still reading. My last few weeks have been busy, I hope to get a lot further on the story now that my kids are on Xmas holidays.


	7. Crashing into darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jump ship and parachute into the wilderness below...

Ion and Astha had found the parachutes and were mostly buckled into them when Abel ran into the cargo bay. His hair was blowing around loosely about his face, and his jacket was in tatters on his back.   
“Nightroad! Over here!” Astha called to him at the back door of the ship. When he approached she tossed him a parachute and his bag, her eyes full of questions to his disheveled appearance.  
“Do you know how to use it?” He asked as he buckled on his parachute and clipping on his bag.  
“Not a clue but it seems like it should be easy enough, pull a cord and we get to keep our bones intact.” She quipped as she helped Ion with his last buckle.   
“The pilots are done in?” Ion asked.  
Abel nodded and reached over to Astha to check her parachute, he had a bit of experience with them and wanted to make sure they wouldn’t get hurt badly from the harness. She looked at him quickly then studied what he did and adjusted Ions.   
“Looks good, this here is the cord, I’ll tell you when to pull it. These things here,” he pointed at a rope with wooden handles that were by their shoulders, “help you steer but we don’t have a lot of time for more than just floating down…. I should be able to find you even if we are separated.”  
They nodded and grabbed their bags, clipping them with the carabiners on the harness like Abel had done. Astha gripped her spear since it wasn’t something to put in a bag easily.  
Abel ran over and hit the door switch and rushed back to them. “Ok, we are closer to trees than anything so be careful, getting staked on a tree is not the plan. Grab my hands it will help us stay closer together.”  
They each grabbed his hands and readied for the jump.  
“Alright! Here we go!” Abel yelled as he pulled them alongside, his long strides taking them to the edge quickly. At the edge of the door he gathered up and leapt upwards, his hands gripping theirs as they became airborne.  
In the dark it was hard to see how close to the trees they were, but it took moments for the trio to clear the ship and hang in free fall.  
“I’m going to let go of your hands, count to 5 and pull the chute cord.” He commanded them, saw each nod and he released their hands.  
He could hear their shouts of surprise once they didn’t have his momentum, and he waited to see both open their chute without an issue.  
Ion was ok, drifting down to the earth… Astha’s chute didn’t open properly! The ropes snagged and the silk didn’t billow out, instead it inverted and pulled her roughly around. She flailed around trying to stay upright. Abel leaned forward to guide himself closer to her, hoping to avoid the canopy of her chute.  
“Abel!” Astha called out as she continued to fight her parachute. Abel looked at the oncoming trees and decided it was best to save her quickly. He closed his eyes briefly as he spoke.  
“Activate Crusnik 02 level 80%.”   
Instantly the nanomachines sprang to life within him, his wings pushing through parts of his unopened parachute harness. Electricity crackled all around him in the darkness, illuminating his black wings to Astha. His heightened senses could hear her panicked gasp when she saw his wings, and then he could hear her spear power up.  
“No! Astha don’t shoot!” His deepened voice startled her more but she held back her charging spear.   
Abel reached out and grabbed her parachute, letting his wings pump them upwards until he felt her descent stop. Once the recoil was done he pulled more of the parachute up until he had the ropes in his hands, Astha was about level with his feet and was looking up at him. He tilted his wings a bit and they started coasting downwards. Abel could see Ion was nearly to the ground by now, his parachute was snagging on branches as he dropped through the evergreens.  
“Pull me up Nightroad! I can’t stand this dangling!” Astha called up to him.  
Abel shook his head, the crusnik was behaving right now, having her closer might be a problem.  
“No, you’re safer there.” He could hear her huff at his reply, but he was busy concentrating.  
Soon they were glidning in amongst the branches of the thick forest, a short distance away from where Ion landed. He hoped he didn’t hit Astha with too many branches but it couldn’t be helped.  
As soon as her feet touched the ground Abel let go of the ropes and landed about fifteen feet away. He urged the crusnik to deactivate quickly while she was busy getting untangled from the parachute.  
“Hey! Come on this is ridiculous, get this damn thing off me!” She snarled from under the mess of silk and ropes. Abel reached over to help pull the parachute off of her.

Astha’s heart still pounded from the flickers of fear she felt when she had seen the wings, fangs and red eyes on what was Abel. What the hell was that?! Surely the darkness was messing with her eyes, the wings… maybe it was some device he had on him. It had electricity shoot around him so that was possible… nothing else made sense. A bionic device, yes it had to be. The other stuff she glimpsed must have been just the adereline of a failed parachute and almost free falling to her death.   
Once freed of the parachute, she stood stiffly as her mind processed what had happened, her eyes stared unseeing at Abel’s feet.  
“Um… Astha are you ok now? We need to go find Ion, he should be on the ground now.” Abel’s smoothing normal voice reached her.  
Her eyes snapped to him in the gloom, searching for signs of what she had seen…. nothing except for the torn harness that barely held his bag to his frame. Looking down she saw her bag was still clipped to her harness as well, thankfully since it had a transmitter, and her spear was on the ground near her feet, dropped in her panic to get out from under the parachute.  
“I’m still alive, no thanks to that damn parachute… it was lucky you have whatever flying device you’re outfitted with.” She said, watching his reaction to confirm her mental explanation of what happened.  
He had reached back to unclip himself from his harness and paused when she said flying device. His eyes held a touch of confusion before darting back to the buckle he was working on.  
“I’m glad you’re ok. Now we need to find Ion since with the silver nitrate he might not be as durable as you.”  
She quickly grabbed her bag and spear as he strapped on his gun. The moon was starting to filter through the clouds better and she could see him. His clothes were torn more on his back, two long holes from the top of his shoulder blade to base of his ribs, pale skin would flash as the fabric flapped with his moments. Silver hair gleamed white in the blue luminescence of the moon, pooling around his shoulders that made him almost glow.   
“Where did he land? Can you see without a light?” She asked to distract herself from staring at him.  
Abel looked about, extending his arm towards the east when a loud explosion could be heard a short distance away, the surrounding areas was lit up with a white orange light momentarily.  
“Hopefully whoever was shooting at us will be looking at the crash site and not where we jumped.” He commented and started walking to where had Ion landed.  
She followed him, looking around for a sign of Ion as much as watching her tovarish. He was evading questions but perhaps it wasn’t the right time… and there was a lot she apparently didn’t know about him. Looking at his ruined clothes she couldn’t see any buckles or equipment for a flying harness but… perhaps it’s something really advanced and it blended in really well. She had seen the killing doll, Tres and honestly the technology was around.  
Abel felt the curious gaze from her golden eyes, could almost hear her mind whirl with questions and the guilt of possibility ruining his friendship with her, tore at him. How was he going to answer the questions coming up? She was coming up with assumptions as she copes with seeing his alternate side but he could only dodge her so long before she would demand answers. His only solace was that, being well fed the crusnik behaved more in the manner he was used to and not the raging beast it craved to be. Given now that it might be a day or so to get rescued… His eyes widened and he stopped suddenly, turning around to face Astha.   
“Tell me you have...oof! Your sun gear?”   
She crashed into his chest as he had about faced so quickly and had to step back to look up at him.  
“My what? Sun gear?... Oh! Yes I do it. Once we find Ion I will put out a call for help. It shouldn’t take more than a day for another ship.”   
He nodded, glancing at her momentarily before turning back to the trail.   
“He shouldn’t be much further.”

Ion dangled only a few feet above the ground, his parachute having caught finally on a large branch. He couldn’t see anything as he was in a shadowed area, the evergreen trees clustered thickly around him. He struggled against his harness as he worked at the releases on the clips, after a few moments he fell the last few feet to the ground in a noisy thud. Looking back at the harness his bag was just out of reach for him to pull down, so he would have to wait for Astha and Abel.  
Ion felt the coolness of the air quickly, his system still weakened with the silver nitrate so he walked around some trees, rubbing his arms and stamping his feet a bit to keep himself warm. He found it funny how much colder he felt with his body reacting more like a Terran, it just proved his point how superior the methuselah were in his mind.  
The crunch of twigs and underbrush being pushed aside reached him. “Astharoshe, Nightroad!” He called out.  
Nothing answered him and the noise ceased. A cold chill climbed up Ion’s spine and he reached for his short dagger he always kept at his waist. He crouched down beside a large evergreen, searching the gloom for movement.  
“Did you hear something?” An unknown deep male voice could be heard to Ion’s left.  
“I thought so, in that thick of trees just up from the draw.” Another male voice replied closer to Ion than the first. Ion gripped his dagger and pushed back into the tree a little more for cover.  
Suddenly the blast of the ship crashing into the forest encompassed him. The flash of the white orange explosion temporarily lighting up the area, showing him a very large human less than 60 feet away. The other man had ducked down with the noise and light but otherwise no sign of seeing Ion.  
“Wow that ship must have been carrying some hot stuff!” The closer man said after he straightened up.   
“I haven’t a clue what was on it, the guy just said shoot down anything that was on the flight path of the Empire. That damn ship took 4 hits to come down.”  
“Let’s hurry up to the crash site and see what we can take. Any survivors he said to notify him.”  
Ion could hear them moving away and slumped down the tree in relief. At full strength he might have been able to beat them but the drawbacks of the nitrate was keenly felt.  
It wasn’t long before the sounds of two more people moving in the brush alerted him. Being more careful this time, he waited till he could see whoever it was clearly.  
Abel’s silver hair gleamed in the moonlight, Ion sighed in relief and stepped out from his tree.  
“Over here!”  
“Ion! You’re ok? We found your parachute and grabbed your bag.” Abel walked quickly over to him, looking for any obvious injury.  
“I am fine, but we are not alone. Two men were here a little bit ago and I overheard them say they shot us down and were looking for survivors.”   
“That’s a bit odd, but given the explosion I’m sure they will see there’s no chance of anyone walking out of that… we need to be careful.”  
“Perhaps we should bury the parachutes?” Astha said as she joined them.  
“Maybe… if I can remember where we landed at.”  
“The one guy said there was a draw nearby, could toss them down there?” Ion suggested. He knelt down and opened his bag to get out a heavier coat, as his teeth were starting to chatter.  
“Ok, I’ll go grab the parachutes, you two wait back in under that thick of trees.” Abel turned and walked back the way they came.   
“Is he alright? Did you have a rough landing?” Ion asked as they settled against the trunk of the tree.  
“My parachute didn’t open right… so he had to help me. I… think he’s ok, at least with all his training this isn’t that unusual a situation for him.”  
“How can he see that well without night vision? Or his glasses?”  
Astha stared at Ion for a moment trying to remember if Abel had answered her question earlier..  
“He didn’t tell me but maybe he’s got some bioengineered stuff on…”   
“Ah ok, that would make some sense I guess, he had time before we jumped... I hope my system recovers quickly from the injections as I am so weak. Lord Walsh said I would be back to normal within 48 hours of the last dose… so like tomorrow evening.”  
“Hopefully we are in a ship going back home by then.”

Abel retraced their steps and gathered the parachutes, tucking them under his arm until he found a hole under a tree to easily sweep the needles and soft loam over them. Walking carefully back he couldn’t help but think that the Orden was behind this attack. They had so many hidden contacts… truly they probably had agents in the Vatican as easily as they did in Londonium, for all he knew the driver of the car was one. He hurried back to Astha and Ion, worry written clearly on his face.  
“So what do we do now?” Ion asked, Abel could see he was a bit antsy.  
“We need to find shelter… and call the Empire.” He looked around a bit more and decided to take them more north, away from the crash site and hopefully some place they can hide.  
Almost an hour later, the sky was starting to lighten up when he found what looked like an abandoned trapper's shack. It was quite old but a tin roof and decent frame made it workable. Abel grabbed some downed logs to cover the larger holes and branches filled in the rest. Inside was a small canvas cot and a table with a stool, anything consumable was long gone by various wild animals. It wasn’t a tall shack, both Astha and Abel had to duck to move about.  
“This should do for now… Astha do we have enough signal?” He asked when he walked back in from adjusting the deadfall outside.  
She was kneeling on the floor with the transmitter sitting on her bag. A few lights blinked on and off as she clicked on the control pad.  
“It might get through but it will be sketchy.”  
“Do we even know where we are?” Ion asked, rubbing his arms again, looking a bit chilled again.   
“I usually had Tres with me and he was equipped with a locator… given the heavy trees and type of evergreen I’d say we are north and west of the Empire.”  
“If I can get signal, the transmitter should be able to give me our location.” Astha commented as she looked at the screen a bit more.  
“I’ve blocked the walls as much as I can for sunlight, we should be ok here for a while. I’ll scout around once we get in contact. Ion you look cold again, do you have more clothes you can layer over with? I’d give you my jacket but… it’s seen better days.”  
“I can imagine, I’m sure I have something…so what happened to your clothes anyway?”  
Astha looked up to see what he would say, curiosity openly apparent on her face.  
“Some… uh technical difficulties with my gear when I had to help Astha with her parachute.”  
Ion nodded and went looking in his bag. Astha looked at Abel, an eyebrow quirked.  
Abel coughed and looked a bit embarrassed.   
She was going to press him but the transmitter chipped with an error message.   
“Damn, not enough signal to pick up anything. We will have to find higher ground.”  
“I’ll go out and see if I can find anything… and perhaps some water? If you have any bottles I’ll take them.”  
“I have one, it’ll be enough.” She dug into her bags again and brought out a small thermos and her small bag of snacks she had picked up for Abel.  
“Here, take the snacks too, I’m sure you will need it more than me with all the hiking.”  
He smiled warmly and took the offered items.  
“You should change back into the Albion clothes… they are less noticeable in the bush than your… ah Empire attire… it would help, and likely keep you warmer.”  
She smirked a little, looking down at her body hugging ensemble of white and blue. “I suppose my nice clothes are not the best for the woods.”  
He chuckled a little, shaking his head and went back outside of the little shack, leaving the two methuselahs alone while as he scouted the valley.

In the morning light he could see the plume of smoke coming from the crash site. Not much else could be seen even with his vision, and no motors could be heard yet in the quiet of the morning. Ion said he saw two men, so more could be in the area on foot, and with the heavy tree cover, well hidden. Abel decided to keep going north to the ridge that would hopefully be high enough for signal.   
The quiet and easy exercise was refreshing for him, soon he had taken off his tattered coat and was comfortably walking in his light shirt. So far the buzz of the crusnik was silent, 02 was satiated still and Lilith’s presence was also subdued. He almost felt lonely after the last few days of a constant mental awareness with the two of them.  
After a while he came across a small brook babbling away through the trees. He filled up the bottle and took some time to dunk his head in the cold water, his hair was a mass of tangles and the water at least kept it out of his face till he could find another tie. Watching the water he thought he could see fish. It had been a long time since he caught one. In fact it was William who tried to teach him… and it ended up with more drinking than fishing and a lot of wet socks. He smiled as he reminisced before the tang of sadness roused him, as those days were long gone now. Shaking his head ruefully, he gathered up his things and turned back the way he had come.   
Early evening would be alright to travel again, the path he had followed seemed to go up the ridge without issue. As still no engine sounds could be heard, he felt confident in thinking the men had likely gone home none the wiser of the trio.

Astha had changed into a more serviceable set of Albion clothes and Ion was sleeping on the cot when Abel returned.   
“Any luck?” She asked as she nudged a wooden crate over for him to sit. It was pretty low and as it was his knees were higher than his hips.  
“I got some water and a path we can take in a few hours to some higher ground.” He took the bottle out and placed it on the table.  
“Any sign of the men?”  
“No, I think they saw the damage and decided no passengers were aboard so left soon after.   
She dug around in her coat pocket and produced a pill bottle, and selected a small capsule.  
She grimaced as she set the pill on her tongue and took a quick drink of water.  
“Ugh, I hate taking the aqua vitae like that but it’s best to conserve the water as Ion will need to take some when he wakes.”  
“How often do you need to take them?” He was genuinely curious having never had the time to ask before.  
“I space mine out more than others, but I’m like every third day sometimes fourth. Most people are every other day and if under heavy work then everyday.”   
“Any reason for that schedule?”  
“I seem to not need as much to keep myself at a comfortable level. Either my tolerance is high or my needs are lower than most I guess. And no, since my Change, I have not had an inkling to bite anyone ever, I’d rather just hit them.”  
Abel nodded, a small grin tugging at his lips at just how Astha that seemed. He never had to wonder what she was thinking, she was so straightforward and easy to read.  
“You should rest as well..: it will be a two or three hour hike and unless either of you know how to fish… there won’t be much supper.”  
“You don’t have training on hunting and fishing?” She asked incredulously.  
“Hunting yes, foraging for roots, berries and other edibles yes but fishing was not taught since where I was sent to had no fish… and Tres usually did that for me on missions.”  
“Well I could cook up a small animal and some roots… I did take some classes once upon a time on rustic cooking.”  
“I’ll see what I can find if you go rest.”  
“Alright… hey Abel, what did I actually see last night? You keep dodging my questions… and I am… unsettled by it.”  
Abel dropped his eyes from hers and she could feel his immediate discomfort radiating from him.  
“It’s… not something I am ready to… talk about yet… you’re not entirely wrong calling it a flying device if that helps you any?” He said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.  
Astha felt guilty seeing him withdraw so much at her question, she reached over and placed a hand on his arm.  
“Ok, take your time, I’m good with knowing it was some kind of technology” she paused a moment before adding,“But don’t you need your glasses?”  
He looked up at her, his eyes soft with gratitude for a moment. “How could I have forgotten them this long?” He moved away from her hand and dragged his bag over to retrieve them.  
“No wonder my head was hurting so much.”  
She looked at him curiously as he had flipped back to his more easy going self.  
“My uh vision is well… augmented I guess you could say and Uv light causes me a lot of issues.” He settled his glasses on his face, blinking several times and adjusting the nose pads a little.  
“So you’re not that blind?” She was quite surprised.  
“Oh heavens no, I have excellent distance and low light vision, which makes close up a bit of work sometimes but my glasses are mainly to cut the strength of light.”  
“Then why were you so clumsy before your coma?”  
“People relax a lot around someone they feel is dumber than them. It has been a treasure trove of information gathering by being That uncoordinated. It took me years to perfect it.”   
“Well you have to so perfected that you being in charge and steady seems weird.” She smirked again, shifting back on the stool.  
“I would have been a great actor is what you’re saying?”  
“Hmm, I don’t know about that tovarish.” She grinned teasingly.  
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Now please rest up, I’ll do what I can outside.” He stood up and picked up his bag, heading for the door.  
“Happy hunting.” She smiled and watched him leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive the grammatical errors, this entire work is being done on my phone... and only proofed read by me...  
> Thanks again for those still reading.


	8. Hiking and contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little domestic after the crash.

Taking a deep breath Abel walked away from the shack to a large fallen log. Taking out his well used sewing kit from his bag he set about repairing his shirt and jacket as his mind wandered. Soon Astha would ask more about his different... traits, or he will be faced with the need to use it again… hopefully they can make it to Seth’s before either happens. He admitted that letting the crusnik have a full feeding had vastly improved their issues and in general he felt a lot better. William was right… again.  
After an hour he had repaired the torn clothing to a serviceable state and the soothing actions of mending cloth had put Abel in a good mood. It would still be a while before it would be dim enough for him to be comfortable with Astha and Ion walking in the daylight. Sure she said their suits would help but… it didn’t feel right to risk it.  
She had asked for some food… perhaps he could scare up a rabbit or something. He walked back to the shack, setting his bag by the opening and peered in to see that Ion was still asleep and Astha was dozing at the table, having taken off her coat to use as a pillow. Having never seen her in quiet repose before… he blinked a few times before moving away feeling a bit embarrassed to stare at her. She was a bold and beautiful lady when awake but in slumber he felt she looked soft and vulnerable, something she would punch him for if he ever told her, his lips quirked up in a half smile at the imagery.  
He gathered a few things and went off to the west of the shack in search of food. It was a decent selection, a pouch of berries, having found some blueberries, junipers and wolfberries. Some edible plants of chicory, chickweed and a larger patch of wild asparagus. While he was gathering the chicory, a ship had flown over and hovered above the crash site before moving away, it was hard to see the vessel through the trees could only really track it by sound. They needed to be on the move before any more ships came possibly looking for them. 

Ion and Astha were awake and waiting for him. She was working on the device again and he was putting on the UV cream on his exposed hands and face. Both looked up in surprised at his arrival.  
“Is everything ok? I thought I heard a ship earlier.” Astha asked, closing the device and clearing off the small table.  
“There was a ship but it moved on. I wasn't able to see it with the trees but it seemed to check out the crash site… so how well did you do at rustic cooking?” He raised an eyebrow at her, a teasing glint in his blue eyes.  
“Um... well, it was a while ago but I’m pretty good at improvising… did you actually find anything?” She stumbled a bit at his change in conversation and demeanor.  
A grin appeared as he placed the washed berries, and the prepped greens on the table.  
“Oh! Well… I didn’t think you would find so much variety… do we even have something to cook in? Half of this stuff is what, boiled and or eaten raw?” She asked as she inspected the berries, tasting one that make her cough a bit at its bite.  
“Those are wolf berries … they are a bit strong.” He laughed at her rueful expression.  
“Nice name for those.”  
Ion reached over to try one having never seen them before. His face scrunched up as the tartness hit his taste buds.  
“Hope the rest tastes better than the berries.”  
“I saw an old pot somewhere here in the cupboard. I’ll go wash it up and once we eat it’s time to move out, that ship could come back or bring others.”

They used their small fire only as long as necessary, hoping the smoke wouldn’t give them away to any searchers. Astha was able to make a passable meal with what Abel gave her and to be honest she was pretty impressed that it was edible.   
“We might survive now that I know you can cook.” He grinned at Astha as he carefully quelled the fire and went about the small area to hide their tracks.   
“You were doubting my skills?” she challenged.  
“Perhaps a little,” his grin widened impishly. “There was a reason I was paired with Tres often, he didn’t need to eat and so far I haven't died from my cooking.”  
“I’m hoping we get picked up soon, I can’t say I enjoyed that meal enough to repeat it.”   
“Haha yeah, I do understand the feeling.”  
“Do you know where we are at all?” Ion asked, peering at the evening sky.  
“Not exactly, but our route and time of speedy disembarkment should have us not that terribly far from Über Berlin.”  
“That’s roughly a three hour flight to the capital.”  
“So we should be home by morning?” Ion asked hopefully.  
Abel chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “Perhaps but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”  
Ions expression fell and he nodded. “At least we got a hot meal.” 

Both methuselahs were packed and ready to leave, wearing their respective UV gear. Abel did a final sweep before leading them onwards to the rise he found earlier. They travelled in silence, letting Abel concentrate on the trail as much as having nothing to say. When they reached the small brook, everyone refilled their water bottles and had a long drink since it could be a while before more water was found.   
It was just past dusk when they reached the ridge that Abel had seen earlier. A few rocks and old stumps scattered around the area, otherwise it was devoid of the heavy evergreen trees that covered the path up.

“This area should get signal, right?” Ion asked settling down on a stump and taking a quick drink.  
“It's probably the best we can find without more climbing. If you look over there you can just see where the ship came down, its likely about ten twelve kilometers away.” Abel pointed down to the south of the ridge.   
Astha nodded and set about getting the device booted up. 

Bleep! Bleep! Bleep! The device vibrated and lit up as it received signal and message alerts came in.  
“I think we were missed.” Abel commented as he leaned down beside Astha.  
“Oh I’m sure we were very missed” she smirked as she opened the first message.

“Astharoshe, your ship has not made it to the dock on its scheduled time. Is everything alright?” Seth's worried voice came over the speaker.  
“Astharoshe, please pick up, we can not get through to the ship and I'm very concerned.”  
“We have heard a report of a ship coming down on some open data lines. I need you to report back immediately!”

“I don't think I have ever heard the Empress sound that upset.” Ion commented.  
“Well, she has good reason, since she was monitoring our return quite closely.” Astha replied as she set the device to connect for transmission.

“Empress, its Astharoshe, we are alive and well but the ship was shot down around the Uber Berlin area according to Abel. I am trying to get you our coordinates on the device now.”  
Astha’s fingers quickly typed out the commands needed for the coordinates to appear on the screen, and sent the data to the Empress’s recorder.  
“Astharoshe! I am so glad to hear from you! We will send a ship out right away to get you, were there any injuries?” Seth’s voice was brimming with relief.  
“No we are all fine. Currently we are on a ridge, surrounded by trees, so I’m not sure where you can land a ship at.”  
“Don't worry about that, we don’t have to land with the ship that is coming. Just stay where you are, it should not be more than a few hours… Abel, are you there?”  
“Yes your Majesty.”  
“Good, please make sure you get on that ship as well.”   
Abel smiled and nodded. “Of course, your Majesty.”  
“I will see you all in a few hours then.” The communication flickered and ended the transmission.   
“Finally something is going right. This whole trip had problems it seems.” Ion sighed and sprawled a little more on the stump he was using as a chair.  
“That is true, right from our departure it has been issue after issue to get to the cardinals residence, then while there before we had to go to Londinium.”  
Abel furrowed his brows a little as he mulled over her words.   
“How known was your trip to Caterina’s?”  
“Not at all, we went by cargo ship to Milan, and we were told to keep a low profile.”  
“The Orden has fingers in every organization it seems… and the comments from those guys last night makes me think this wasn’t by chance.”  
They fell silent as the ominous feeling of his statement hung in the air.

Abel was starting to get tired, the concept wouldn’t leave him that Cain or at least the Orden truly had gotten deeper into the Vatican and empire than previously thought. This meant that Seth, Caterina and Esther were all in danger since they were all powerful women who Cain knew were linked to him. A shudder slithered down his spine at the thought of Cain getting access to Caterina who was truly the most defenceless if found alone. Esther was experienced with thugs and other ugly walks of life, as well as truly being a blaze of life and vitality in comparison to Caterina who was slowly fading from some mysterious ailment she had not shared.   
“Abel,” Astha voice called him out of his darkening thoughts. “Why don’t you rest some, I know you have been non stop since we landed, and it wasn’t that long ago you were in a coma.”  
Her sensible suggestion brought waves of exhaustion to his body as he became aware of how tired he was.   
He grunted a little and walked around the clearing to find a place that was less rocky to lay down on.  
“Should we make a fire or something?” Ion asked as he watched Abel wander.  
“I wouldn’t till it’s a lot closer to when the ship should be in the area.”  
“Oh… ok. So what should we do while you sleep?”  
“Look at the stars?” He suggested as he finally cleared a spot not far from them and laid down his long jacket and dug out another from his bags to drape over himself.   
“The Moons seem so bright tonight. The shield over the Empire never lets them shine so strong in the city.” Ion mused aloud.  
Abel shifted on his makeshift bed, his fingers laced behind his head so he could look up at the sky. Little did Ion or anyone really know that the smaller “moon” was a ship. Their ship. Where Lilith died by Cain’s hand, the hot sting of betrayal and failure momentarily lancing though his mind.   
“Do you learn much about the stars and space in the Empire?” He asked after a while.  
“There’s classes on constellations but not much.”  
“Ahh, that’s too bad as space is really interesting in its cold and distant way.” Abel mused, his voice deepening as his mind drifted to far away memories of space.  
“You are just a priest, why would you know anything about space?”  
A short laugh barked out of Abel. “You met Professor William, a mind that hungry wants all the information and he is just a priest. You shouldn’t be judging books by their covers as the saying goes.”  
“Ah yeah I guess that makes sense, though the saying is one I’ve never heard it before.”   
“Really? Huh… it used to be a very common saying… Watch the stars quietly Ion, so I can rest a few minutes.” Abel yawned and turned over to sleep.

Astha watched their exchange a bit bemused as Abel’s answers exposed a little more about the man. When Abel ended their conversation she took the hint to walk away to let him rest. Taking out her spear, she moved a short distance away and worked on various drills, the repetitive motions soothing as much as making the time pass.

Once he found a comfortable way to lay, Abel fell into slumber. His mind was drifting from memories brought up about space, watching the planets as they traveled past them on the trip to and from Mars.   
“Abel…” Liliths soft voice whispered into his mind. “Lilith?” Her lovely face appeared, looking concerned.  
“You will need to feed us again soon, 02 won’t stay quiet for long.”  
“Why the need for blood so soon? For many years I had no blood while I mourned your death. And in the last twenty it’s been sporadic and far and few between. I refuse to become more of a monster!”  
“Full fusion has taken the nanomachines out of their low powered state they had been in from the beginning. We can activate at a thought, generate electricity with a flick of your wrist and give you the wings at a lower percentage, the blood scythe is bigger and charged with power unlike before. It’s an optimized system that needs the fuel regardless of being idle or not now. I need you to take care of me and 02 so that I can help you keep him at bay.”  
“Will the cravings be as bad as they were when I woke up?” He was afraid of the answer.  
“Only if you get really hurt, but it was like that even before. If you don’t let us get depleted it will stay as an ache before it becomes a need… I don’t want to hurt your friends.”  
She reached out and took his hands, sending warmth to him in comfort. He squeezed her hands in acceptance.  
“Will the pills that Astha takes, if Seth has similar, would they work?”  
“I don’t know… we need the virus and I don’t know how well it takes to being dried, Seth will know and perhaps we need a bigger dose.”  
He nodded. “Here’s hoping.”  
“Sleep now my dear. I’ll keep watch.”  
Her image faded and blackness of sleep enfolded him completely.

It had been roughly an hour since Abel had laid down that Astha came back to sit near them. A few sips of water and she sat down on a few larger stones.   
“Only a bit longer till the ship comes?” Ion asked, he had been dozing a bit till she came back.  
“Perhaps an hour, soon we should make the fire I think. I’ll get a spot ready if you go grab deadfall.”  
He nodded and went to his task.   
Abel hadn’t moved much in his sleep. She could hear his deep relaxed breaths as she cleared a spot and made a ring of rocks for the fire. Debating if she should wake him she wandered around gathering smaller sticks and such.

“Astharoshe!” Ion called from the trees. “Come quick!”  
She grabbed her spear and ran to where he sounded to be at.  
“What is it Ion?”  
He pointed down the valley to where the small shack they had stayed in was at… it was up in flames.  
“That just happened while I was out here… do you think those guys followed us?”  
“Or they got some help from that ship Abel saw earlier.”  
“Do we still make a fire?”  
“I’ll see if I can contact the ship… let them know we are not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter chapter, things got busy! Next chapter might be a little while as well....  
> Thanks for the kudos! They make my day


	9. What is Hidden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An ambush leads to some tense moments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long to get up.I really struggled with how I wanted it to go, and still not sure it’s good but I want to move on to the empire with chapter 10.
> 
> Thanks again for the kudos and seeing the hit counter still slowly go up is motivating for me :-)

A very tall man in a black uniform with a red armband stood with looking out over a the factory floor from the glassed in office. His long black hair cascaded down his back to end near his hips framed his jet black eyes were coolly assessing the scene below in the factory. A slender cigarillo held lightly to his lips while his coldly beautiful face showed a neutral expression. The undead methuselah soldiers - autojägers were being outfitted and sorted into groups. Soon they would be sent out on patrols as this base was slowly being retrofitted to their needs. Behind him, a slight sloshing sound could be heard from the large glass tank filled with an opaque black liquid.  
“Issak, I’m bored of being in here. How much longer must I stay?”  
Issak sighed softly, smoke tendrils spiralled lazily around him.  
“Another six hours and you will be back to full strength. Your latest altercation with 02 took a lot out of your system Mein Herr.”  
“That feels like it will be forever!”  
“With your lifespan that seems a bit dramatic.”  
“Oh, well.. yeah perhaps... but still time moves so slow in here… Have we heard anything about what 02 is doing?”  
“He seems to have boarded a ship and left Albion. I have men stationed around to shoot down any ships on route to the Empire as it is likely he is trying to get to 03.” He paused to take another drag on his smoke. “My hope is that with him being fully fused to the crusnik, 02 will take over the host body and thus we will only have to look for the destruction.”  
“Won’t that make it harder to capture him?”  
“Once you starve a beast it is always hungry. 02 will be easy to coax in and to our side with the right bait.” He flicked a few ashes from his smoke before turning around to walk over to the tank.  
“I don’t think Esther would be happy if we used her. We only just gave her that lovely crown and kingdom to figure out.”  
“No, the young queen is not quite the right person… I was thinking perhaps the cardinal would be good, or the professor might be entertaining.”  
“Have I met them yet?”  
“No, Mein Herr but you will.”  
“Soon?”  
“That depends on 02. We want that alliance between Cardinal Caterina and the Empire to have enough time to ripen so that the inevitable betrayal is that much sweeter, but if 02 proves troublesome it will still be a simple thing to fan the flames needed to have the Vatican attack the Empire.”  
“Right. I’m so glad I have you around Issak, keeping things in order.”  
A slight smile touches the cool features. “I live to serve.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Astha ran back to where Abel was sleeping. She reached out to grab his shoulder as she had done on the ship, but stopped just before she touched him, remembering how he woke up swinging. He had been an agent for the cardinal and even though he was quiet man, he knew what danger was and had the reflexes for it. Bracing herself she carefully shook his shoulder.  
“Abel! We have trouble coming!” She urged him.  
Abel’s blue eyes opened in unfocused confusion at the jostling of her shaking him awake. Slowly they zeroed in on her golden eyes and blinked a few more times as he got his bearings.  
“Trouble?” His groggy voice was low and thick as he seemed to be dragging himself out of slumber.  
“Yes, it looks like they found the shack and torched it.”  
He sat up and looked around at the moonlit clearing.  
“Torched it? How soon till Se… err the ship gets here?”  
“Not long, maybe another hour if that. I’ll contact them shortly. But if those terrans are here they might have the cannon that brought us down. We need to stop them before our ticket out of here is shot.”.  
He sighed and got up, packing up his extra coat and getting out his gun and bullets.  
“There isn’t much choice is there? We will have Ion stay up top here, you and I can deal with these guys easy enough.”  
She nodded, looking back at where Ion was waiting for further instruction, she waved him over.

“I could help, I’m not an child.” Ion groused when they told him to wait with the equipment.  
“I’ve worked with Astha before and you, from my experience like to charge ahead without thinking, a failing of all youth I’m afraid.” Abel quietly said to unruffled the young methuselah’s feathers.  
“I… well.. you’re right I guess. I’ll stay here and wait for the sign from either you or the ship.”  
Abel nodded affirmation and a quick glance at Astha to see how communication with the ship was going.  
“There’s interference I can’t get through to the ship… we need to be quick Nightroad.” She said as she set the communicator down and grabbed her spear. He nodded, rolled his shoulders a little and walked off towards the path, Astha following close behind.

The glow of the burning shack was dying down some, and while it lit up the area, not much could be seen of the men.  
“We will go down to near that small brook, its less than halfway to the shack and if I remember right would be a good place to stage an ambush. Are you strong enough to still have haste?” He looked towards her, eyebrow raised.  
“Of course I do...Are we racing down there?”  
“Heh, no not racing, I have a different idea, as I want to question one of them. If you haste and knock all but one out then we can ask him a few quick questions before taking him out too.”  
She nodded in understanding, “I will likely do more than knock them over… these are just terrans.” she replied while adjusting her over coat and slinging her spear across her back.  
“It is what it may be, alive they might give us away, dead it’s bodies that leave a trail…” he took a deep breathe and then started down the path in a jog being mindful of the rough terrain.

It didn’t take long to reach the brook, moonlight was just enough to allow decent navigation of the rocky forest floor before the canopy blocked most of the light. Abel set his hand back and low to alert Astha to slow down, she dutifully stopped and unhooked her spear, as Abel drew his old style colt revolver.  
Further down the path was the occasional bluish beam of a flashlight and they could hear the thrashing of several people walking through the underbrush.  
Abel nodded at Astha to go over behind a larger spruce tree just up from the brook, he moved forward and hopped over the brook going slightly downhill from where she was hidden. He knelt down and grabbed a small fist sized rock, hefted it a few times to gauge its weight before standing up again. It wasn’t long before a flash of light could be seen down the path. Soon the beams of the flashlights was getting more consistent, and snippets of speech could be heard now, four male voices were discernible.  
Abel waited till he could see them clearly before he waved at Astha to alert her. Seeing her nod, he stepped out and threw the rock at the men. It landed just past them to their left. Flashlights swirled as they looked at where the noise came from.  
Astha took advantage of the distraction and darted towards them with the blinding speed of haste. Using the butt of her spear she rammed it into the first ones sternum, knocking him over and down. She landed and sidestepped to jump at the second man, aiming for his head, and with the momentum the impact was likely lethal. She remembered Abel wanting one left standing so she dodged the third and went for the fourth. He had seen the others drop and braced his arms in front of him with a yell of surprise. Astha slammed into him, twisting her body between his hands and using her shoulder to drive his body into the ground hard. She pressed her boot into his throat as she stood up, then using the butt of the spear, smashed it against his temple to either knock him unconscious or dead, both outcomes were good enough for her.  
As Astha was taking the men down, Abel hurried out and stopped just before the group, gun cocked and pointed at the last man standing. The beam of his flashlight illuminated Abel’s body, the slim dark figure, pale skin and silver hair. Momentarily a flash of red eyes reflected back at the man as he stared down the barrel of the gun. Astha stood behind the man and pressed the tip of her spear between his shoulder blades.  
“Go ahead and shoot, filthy vampire bitch!”  
Astha’s eyes widened slightly and she pushed the spear harder into his back.  
“That’s not the smartest thing I’ve ever heard.” Abel commented, walking closer. The man was thick, burly build and swarthy complexion. His clothes were of a common labourer and no distinctive marking was seen, all Abel could find of any note was a simple gold wedding band.  
“Who are you, why are you following us?” Abel asked keeping his voice low and even.  
“I’m not telling you anything! You killed the other guys and you’re just going to kill me anyway. All you damned vampires want to do is kill.”  
“Were you hired to track newcomers?” Abel continued ignoring the man's refusal to answer.  
“Fuck you! Like I said I’m not telling you anything!”  
Abel lowered his gun and looked at Astha. She shrugged her shoulders.  
“Well… Given your over abundance of help, do you wish for death? Your wife will become a widow, your children fatherless. Is whoever hired you worth more than your family?” Abel hoped appealing to the man's family needs would help.  
The man shifted his feet a little, some of the fight leaving him.  
“We were to shoot and bring back any that survived the crash. They told us they would be fucking vampires and he was bloody right.” He moved to shrug off the spear between his shoulder but Astha kept the point jabbed in the meaty area beside his spine.  
“Who wants to shoot down the ships?”  
“He never said his name. Some skinny kid with a funny accent that gives you the heebie jeebies. They paid us well in advance and told us we can take whatever we can from the ships. My wife is sick, I need the money to get her more help… I have a number to contact him with but I won’t grab it with her pushing that thing in my back.”  
Abel looked again at Astha and nodded his head, she stepped back a half step to take the pressure off the man.  
The man bowed his back to reach inside his coat, his hand rifling around inner pockets. In the relief of tension on Abel and Astha’s part, he pulled out his gun instead.  
Abel’s eyes widened moments before the bullet went into his chest.  
Astha activated her spear instantly and the energy bolt killed the man mere seconds later.  
“Abel!” She raced over to him as he doubled over.  
He coughed a few times, a bit of blood dripping on the ground. Dropping his gun he gathered his sleeve to press on the wound.  
“What can I do?!” Astha asked, panic strong in her voice.  
“Just… give… me a moment… stay back please Astha.” He panted.  
She knelt down watching him worriedly. She heard him taking in a few deep shuddering breaths before he straightened up.  
“Ok. I’m alright now… did you uh… kill the other men? Or will they wake up?” He moved slowly to pick up his gun and holster it.  
“Wake up?... Oh! I’ll check.” She moved over the other three prone forms, checking for signs of life.  
They had all died either from impact or internal bleeding.  
“Terrans are so fragile, I forget how it was for us before our change happens…” she paused and studied him for a moment. “Where did you get hit? How badly are you injured? Did the bullet go through?”  
Abel shrugged his shoulder a little, a bit like a testing motion to see how he was. “It missed vitals and feels like it went through. I’ll be ok, it’s not the first time I’ve been shot.”  
“Can I wrap it for you? It’s still a good hike up to the clearing and no need to bleed out on the way up.”  
“No, Astha don’t touch me right now… I heal pretty quickly and it’s just best for both of us if you aren’t too close to me.”  
She furrowed her brows in frustration.  
“Why can’t I be near you? That makes no sense!”  
Abel acted like he didn’t hear her, looking around at the brush and then at the bodies. “We will have to move these off the trail… two could go behind that tree there, the others... there’s a bit of a dip beside this tree.” He pointed at the spots.  
Astha huffed but went over to drag bodies, as Abel did the same. “You were just shot, what are you doing?!”  
“Helping.”  
“Blood loss is a problem for most people.”  
“I know. I’m using the good arm, honest.”  
“Nightroad!” She growled and hefted the last body to the backside of the tree.  
“This won’t keep the animals from the bodies… but it should disrupt anyone looking for us a day or two.”  
“Let’s get back to Ion. The ship should be here any time now.” Astha pressed.  
He nodded and turned to go back up the path, feeling Astha’s glare as strongly as the bullet hole his body had already closed and cleaned up, absorbing all the spilled blood. They had walked a good portion of the path in silence before Astha couldn’t contain herself.  
“That was pretty dumb to lower your gun like that, what do they teach you at the Vatican?”  
Abel winced at her comment. “I guess I’m a bit out of practice, Tres would have given some calculations on how fast he could shoot if the guy tried to draw a weapon. I’m always let down on how dedicated people are to money.”  
“Well, don’t do that again, you’re lucky he didn’t hit any vital, if a bit unused like your head.” She scolded, “as soon as we get on the ship you need medical attention, no one just heals up from a bullet.” She grumbled as she walked behind his tall form, eyeing his movements for pain.  
“I will be fine Astha, stop worrying about me. I’m flattered that you are so concerned… perhaps I’ve grown on you?” He teased.  
“Grown on me?!” She growled and reached out, grabbing his coat by the collar and twisting him around, pushing his back to a tree. His surprised blue eyes met her angry gold ones.  
“A- Astha?!” He stuttered.  
“Shut your mouth a moment Nightroad. I’m tired of you dodging my questions, and cold shoulder-ing me. You did it at Albion, when we got out of the ship and now again after being shot, I can’t ignore it any longer. What is going on with you? Why won’t you tell me anything? I remember you were hurt at Venice, but as soon as we talked you got up and acted like nothing had happened. Now you’re doing it again after a close range bullet. You said the wings were an augmentation…” As she spoke she slammed him against the tree with each question. Her brows furrowed a bit as she looked at his coat where he was shot. “Where’s the blood? I saw you get shot and blood splattered… even your sleeve is clean all that’s left are the burn marks…” her grip lessened as her eyes snapped up to his. “and you can’t tell me this is another augmentation from the Vatican.”  
The surprise faded from his eyes, replaced with sad apology.  
“I was hoping this conversation would hold off till we were in the Empire… it’s the mark of my sins...You and I have more in common than we have with terrans… please Astha let me tell you this when we are back in the Empire.” She noticed as he spoke the feeling of static charge in the air, his skin was getting more pale, loose hairs were floating slightly about his head and his voice was deeper, raspy even.  
“More in common with me than with terrans? But you’re a Terran... right?”  
Abel brought his arm up to push her away from him, things were getting too intense both within and without his body. 02 was struggling against Lilith, pushing to activate without commands. The nanomachines were buzzing in his veins at the proximity of Astha’s sweet blood.  
“Not as much as I used to be.” He said softly, sadly.  
She noticed his want for space but felt she was close to finally getting an answer out of him, that she braced against him. Looking at his face she noticed he was clenching his teeth, but it looked odd and as her eyes travelled up to his, she was met with blue that fading into a predatory red. Her stomach suddenly went to lead as the red became more dominant.  
“Astha, before I harm you… move away…” he whispered, pleading.  
Her eyes ripped away from his and when he spoke she glimpsed behind his lips, pointed teeth that should have been the blunt rectangular of a human. A shocked gasp escaped her as she quickly stepped back. She winced as an arc of electricity jumped from his arm to her shoulder, the spidery blast visible momentarily.  
“Wha...what are you?”  
She watched him close his eyes and take several deep breaths, visibly calming himself down.  
When he looked back up all signs of the predatory version were missing, replaced with his wintery blue eyes that carried that deep sadness she had only glimpsed before.  
“I will explain later, please Astha, the ship is coming if not already landed… I promise we will talk about this again just… not here, not like this.”  
She looked up at the sky, seeing that some time had passed and he was likely right, this was not the place nor the time.  
“Am I safe with you?”  
”Yes, just don’t get so close… it makes things rough for me.”  
“You will tell me everything? I need to know.”  
“You will know soon enough… for better or worse. We are tovarish right?” He stepped past her and started running up the path, to escape her or reach the clearing she couldn’t tell.  
Astha took a few deep breaths as she watched him leave, feeling confused and wondering if her hot headedness had opened up something best left alone. But there was no going back now, the image of red eyes and black wings flashed in her mind, giving her a cold shiver, soon she would have answers. A quick mental shake and she hurried after him.


	10. Tea Service

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally on the ship to the Empire.

Abel reached the clearing a bit before Astha, wanting to avoid her just a little longer. His hands shook slightly as he pulled his coat a bit tighter around his frame, the bullet hole being obscured by a fold of fabric. When Lilith said that the crusnik would demand feeding, she wasn’t joking, he now questioned the whole idea of going to the Empire being surrounded by methuselah at every turn. He looked back to see Astha had slowed down to a walk, likely still trying to figure out what she had seen… his heart felt heavy as he envisioned the possible outcomes of the dreaded talk. Would she attack, run away or accept him? So far it seemed she wasn’t running away quite yet so perhaps, perhaps it was going to be ok.

“Nightroad!” Ion called out from the top of the clearing. He was waving his arm trying to catch Abel’s attention.  
Abel shook his head and quickly moved up to where Ion was, looking to see if the ship was close.  
“Where’s Astharoshe? Was there trouble? I knew you should have let me help!”  
“She’s just a few minutes behind me, relax Ion.”  
“Oh… did you stop those guys?”  
“There were four of them but Astha took care of it. I wasn’t able to find out much information though, unfortunately. Did you make contact with the ship?”  
“Yes! They should be visible anytime now. They were able to get a full lock on to our location from the communicator.” Ion turned around looking up at the sky.  
Abel looked up as well, searching the just barely dawn sky until he saw the slightly matte metal form of the ship, a small vessel built for speed and stealth.  
“There it is!” He pointed it out to Ion.  
“Where can they land?” Astha asked as she walked up, catching the last bit of their conversation. Abel dropped his arm immediately and stood back a little, not quite looking at her.  
“Likely anywhere it’s a small ship.” He commented and then knelt down to grab his bag as much as to hide his discomfort.  
“That’s a relief. Soon we will be back home, I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy to see a ship.” Ion shuffled around as he watched the ship approach.  
Astha’s gaze drifted over Abel several times, not quite sure how to handle the sudden awkwardness between them.

Within ten minutes or so the ship was lowering to land nearby, the early dawn light casting a slightly pink hue to everything. Ion, Astha and Abel had their packs ready and were waiting the moment they could board the ship. Once the landing feet settled on the ground the passenger door opened and a small loading ramp slid out, they could see in the doorway a female form that was slight in stature stood. Abel sighed in relief as he recognized Seth instantly, and quickly walked up the ramp. 

“Abel!” Her whole face lit up as she watched him come up the ramp, as soon as he was in the cabin, she wrapped her arms around his middle. “I was so worried when I heard you were badly injured.” She hugged him a little tighter when his hands rested between her shoulder blades as he returned her gesture, before letting go and looking up at his face.  
“Heh, well it was the most hurt I’ve ever been I believe… but I’m here and in one piece again so that’s always a good thing!” He replied with a bit of a smile.  
Seth’s petite face scrunched up a little, “in one piece again?”  
“Ah well… I kinda lost my head when He showed up I guess you could say.”  
She slowly blinked and stared at him, “you fought him already?!”  
“Yes, but I didn’t exactly defeat him as he escaped when I started to get the upper hand.” Frustration was easy to hear in his soft voice.  
“You really didn’t waste any time since you left if you encountered him so quickly.”  
“It was a chance meeting, caught me off guard actually. I had no idea he had been helping Esther in Londinium and even before that, his butler Issack helped her in Istvan.”  
“Very interesting… but we can talk more later, best get back to the Empire right away.”  
“Right, uh.. did you happen to bring any food with you?”  
“Oh, I guess you guys didn’t exactly pack for camping. I’ll see what I can find to hold you over till we get back.” She winked at him.  
Ion and Astha walked in, setting their bags down and waiting to greet Seth. When she turned to them, they both gave her a semi formal bow. Abel had forgotten they knew the Empress’s true face.  
Seth waved them off “I’m not in my state clothes, please relax, it’s been a very busy trip for you both and I want the detailed reports tomorrow morning.”  
Abel took a seat a bit away from the other two, settling in for the ships take off. Seth disappeared for a few moments and came back with a basket filled with cookies, buns, fruit and some water.  
“Hope this will tide you guys over, we left so quickly that this is just what was on hand.” She set it down on the open seat between Abel and Ion, Astha sat a bit further away.  
“Thank you very much!” Ion bowed his head respectfully before grabbing an apple. Abel smiled at Seth and grabbed a few things as well. She smiled happily as the boys ate the food quickly, but noticed that Astharoshe was being a bit more reserved than normal. She grabbed two buns and moved over beside the tall woman.  
“I bet it’s been a bit rough having to keep those two in line.” Seth cheerfully said as she handed Astha a bun.  
The woman’s amber eyes looked up and were a bit startled initially, her ivory hair was tousled and knotted mixing the red strip into a pinkish hue with the ivory. It wasn’t normal to see her so out of sorts.  
“It’s ok Astharoshe, I’m not the Empress right now, I’m just Seth, happy to have some friends back from a long trip.” She smiled reassuringly.  
Astha let out a small sign and returned her smile as she took the bun.  
“Thank you, your.. Seth. And yes, it has been an experience since we left the Empire.” She paused and looked over at the silver haired man. “Abel… should get some medical attention. He took a bullet a little while ago and … well said he was ok but I don’t agree.”  
“Oh! Ok, well he’s lucky that I know a few things about patching people back up. Thank you for letting me know.” Seth stood up to go to Abel.  
“Wait,” Astha reached out and rested a hand on her arm. “I’m not convinced that you will be safe…”  
“Nonsense, Astharoshe. Abel would never hurt me. Why would you be worried?”  
“He’s not quite the same after his injury I think.” Astha replied sounding unsure.  
“I’ll be fine, most men don’t like needles so he will have to on good manners.” She grinned and patted at her hand before going to Abel.  
“Come with me, you need some help apparently.” She looked at him expectantly.  
Abel’s surprised eyes met hers and he hurriedly stuffed the rest of his snack in his mouth. He looked quickly at Astha, who looked back at him a bit guilty. He sighed a little and got up to follow Seth.

He followed her to a smaller room in the ship, a first aid station with a glass cabinet of various bandages and vials. She motioned for him to sit again.  
“While we both know a gunshot is nothing for our systems, Astharoshe is concerned for you… and for my welfare. So what happened?”  
“Ah… yeah. I’ve been having trouble with the crusnik since full fusion… and her parachute failed when we jumped out of the other ship so I activated to slow her fall.” Seth interrupted him, grabbing his jacket lapels..  
“Full fusion?! But you know what that did to Cain, why would you ever have gone to that? How?!” She stood before him, disbelief slowly being replaced with concern on her delicate youthful features.  
“Caterina had them give me the rest of Lilith's nanomachines after He blew my head off… I came back when he tried to hurt Esther as she was protecting my coffin. It’s… hard to explain but I awoke fighting him and was fully fused… it was primal, like I was someone else for a little while…thank god for Esther or I’m sure I would have been lost… I did find out that Liliths nanomachines have some essence of her, having absorbed a bit of her presence that they are able to talk to me occasionally.”  
“Oh my…they didn’t say how badly you were hurt… and you came back from that?! Are you... still you?” She looked into his eyes intently, searching for differences.  
“I am, at least as far as I know. When 02 tries to grab control, Lilith helps me… but I’m not stable, and I don’t feed enough for the increased capacity. I’m worried now that I won’t be safe at the Empire.”  
Understanding shone in her eyes and she reached out to hug his neck. His long hair was a mess, half of it was out of the ponytail, his grey greatcoat was rumpled and she could see the bullet hole out the back. She straightened up and smiled reassuringly.  
“Oh Abel I can’t imagine what you’ve been through… medically amazing but terrifying at the same time. Don’t worry about Astharoshe, is a strong woman and if she hasn’t ran away yet, she won’t.”  
“I’m hoping so… she’s seen enough that I have to tell her the whole story if we are to continue…. how do you deal with the cravings?”  
“I have a special account set up though our blood banks, I need so little that it is super easy to have a supply.”  
“No pill version like the human blood?”  
“No… the nanomachines can’t process it dried unfortunately.” She watched him slump a little at the news.  
“How often do you need to... replenish?” Abel swallowed as he felt the nanomachines buzz at the thought of feeding. He started to fidget with his coat sleeves to distract himself a bit.  
“Maybe once every twelve weeks? I activate so seldom that it’s mainly a dormant system really, just I don't feel well if I go too long. And I only need an ounce or so. It has been a long time since I’ve gone more than low level activation.”  
He sighed, feeling every bit repulsed by the monster within him as it was reacting to the conversation.  
“I need to uh… eat more often and more volume than that now. Lilith said that the system is optimized now and I can’t let it starve anymore. I fed twice last week and could easily take in more, especially after the gunshot and little food the last twenty four hours. Astha got a little frustrated with me and when she was grilling me, I couldn't keeping it from displaying. They activate on their own to a degree still but thankfully not like they did when I woke up last week.”  
Seth’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as she listened to him.  
“Wow! That is some high demand for the system. Well, we can fill you up with what food I brought and when we land sort out some supply to take you down to a manageable level.”  
“I’d really like some tea… with sugar if that's possible.”  
“I’ve seen your cup, that is more like having tea with your sugar.”  
He shrugged. “It works for me.”  
She nodded and moved for him to take off his coat.  
“We can set the duchess’s mind at ease if you let me patch you up a little.”  
He chuckled and did as she bid, removing his coat and letting her put some strong smelling salve on his shoulder.  
“Ugh that stuff is strong.”  
“Oh but it works wonderfully! Took me a while in my lab to come up with it.” She winked and handed him back his coat as she cleaned up. He paused for a moment when he saw his appearance in the small mirror. He could see he had lost even more weight, his hair was a wild mess and his pale complexion was greyer than normal. “My god! I look a fright!” He muttered as he redid his pony tail and settled his glasses back on his nose.  
“It’s only another hour to get back home. I have a room set for you to be in without the court knowing you’re here. After that we will figure out what needs to be done.”  
“I’m not staying in the Empire Seth, not till I know he’s truly gone.”  
Her face fell for a moment before she looked back up at him. “We will see how things go, I’ve been around a while and learned a few things you know. Now go back to the cabin, I’ll have your tea ready in a blink.”  
He smirked and nodded before returning to the cabin with Ion and Astha, his coat draped over his arm and the strong aroma of the salve cloaking him.  
“Oh wow!” Ion looked at Abel, blinking rapidly as the pungent eucalyptus smell took over the room.  
“Your sense of smell will be gone in a few moments, believe me.” Abel grinned a little, reaching his seat and laying his coat down beside him.  
“I left you a few cookies, since you are such a big eater.” Ion pushed the basket closer to Abel.  
“Thanks Ion.” Abel smiled and took the offered cookies, waiting for the tea to come.

Astha watched him walk in and settle into his chair. The aroma of the salve made her eyes water slightly, but that just meant there was sign of treatment. He had fixed his hair a bit, his glasses were back on and he seemed a little more like his old self, the klutzy priest she knew before his injury. In a little while she could go home, get a good sleep and perhaps what she had seen was just her mind getting away with her.  
She sighed a little, releasing some of the tension she was holding while Abel was with Seth, the smell of the salve assaulting her senses anew with the deep breath, rudely.  
Seth came in with the tea and a large bowl of sugar, which Abel happily heaped thirteen spoonfuls into his now almost overflowing cup of tea.  
“It’s almost a waste to give you the tea, if the sugar is over half the cup.” She teased.  
“Mmmm I don’t do every cup this way, just the first one since then I don’t need to add more sugar.”  
Seth gave a little snort and set out two more cups for Ion and Astha.  
“We should be landing in a little bit. Once down I’ll have a guard give you a lift to your homes. Tomorrow after a good sleep and hearty breakfast Astharoshe can meet me at the palace commons area. Ion, your grandmother is anxiously awaiting your arrival so I likely won’t see you till later in the day.”  
They both nodded in acknowledgment.  
“And Abel?” Astha asked.  
“I have a room for few days set aside till we sort something out. It’ll work out, relax.” Seth smiled and waved as she left the cabin.

Abel watched the exchange quietly as he enjoyed his tea, the sugar hit placating the crusnik a little after its eagerness earlier. His mind drifted a bit as he wondered if Caterina or William had gotten any more leads on Cain. Obviously Cain was looking for him, given what he learned from the man earlier. Who else would be looking for ships carrying methuselah? Once the issue with feeding this damned monster was solved he was going back in the field to find Cain. Abel’s eyes lingered over Astha for a moment, wondering if she would insist on travelling with him, once she knew his dark truth. She looked tired, the challenging spark was dull in her eyes when they locked for an instant before dropping back to her tea.  
Abel looked down into his tea as well, studying his hands. They were long and lean, dwarfing the cup a bit as it was settled between his palms. Hands that had hurt more than had helped, yet a few still people trusted him, Esther with her endlessly blue eyes who stood by him once she had seen the beast. Caterina and William who utilized his skills as much as helped him survive once he had left Lilith’s tomb. Being in AX brought him back to the world of the living, a way to pay for his sins against mankind. The crusnik that took over Cain needed to be stopped, the orden had to be stopped before wars broke out again in this vision of fire to consume them all. Tea spilled over into his hands as he realized he had gripped the cup tightly while lost in thought. He set the cup down to wipe off the tea when he noticed oddly now that he wasn’t wearing gloves like he did while he was a priest.  
“It’s been so busy since the coronation that I never even got my gloves back on.”  
Ion looked at him then at his hands.  
“It has been a bit constant,” Ion admitted, then stretched. “I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.”  
“I’m looking forward to a soak in my bathhouse till my bones melt.” Astha added, yawning and rubbing her eyes. The ship shifted a little as it shifted to the landing sequence.  
Abel smiled at them both, endearing in their shared exhaustion. “It’s a well deserved rest I would say.”


	11. Seth’s Place

A/n - this has been the hardest chapter to write!   
Many thanks to all who have been reading the story, on A03 I’ve reached over 200 hits and on FanFiction.Net the comments have been a help to keep going. 

~~~~~~~

 

The filtered light of the Empire greeted them as they filed out of the ship, the soothing warmth welcoming. As promised there was a palace car waiting to take Ion and Astha home.   
“Rest well you two!” Abel cheerfully waved.  
“See you in a few days Nightroad.” Ion grinned and jogged over to the car.  
Astha looked at him for a long moment, before bowing to Seth. “I’ll be back this afternoon to report, your Majesty.”  
“Alright, Astharoshe, if you wish.” Seth nodded before she started walking towards the cars.   
Abel stood a moment longer watching Astha, concern worrying his brow until their gazes locked briefly and she gave him a slight smile.   
“Till later, Nightroad.” She turned away to join Ion in the car.

“Now, we need to get you in the Palace and in a room to recover in. I’ve already let Baybars know you are coming and he’s one of my most trusted guards. You’re under my orders to sleep and eat as much as you can till this evening when we can talk.” Seth sat beside Abel in the car, her tone very serious.  
“You’ve gotten bossy in your old age.” He grinned and shifted back to avoid her punch to the shoulder.  
“As Empress it’s my right.” She smirked.   
“Of course your Imperial Highness.” That got him a stern look.  
“Ok, ok I’ll stop. I will rest a bit and eat all the food you send me. Tonight we need to figure out what I need to get stabilized.”  
“You only just got here Abel… can’t you stay a little before you leave again?”  
“I don’t think I will have a choice… I have to find Him before something else happens.” Abel finished quietly, looking down at his hands.  
“Give me a week?”  
“I’m making no promises Seth. If I can’t keep the monster under wraps here I’ll leave to avoid any bloodshed.”  
“I understand. We can fix you, I know it.”  
He smiled warmly at her firm resolve.   
“So… are you still a priest? Or a free agent?”  
Abel furrowed his brow, “While I can’t return to the Vatican because several of the inquisition saw my body, Caterina did give me a set of my robes as a just in case. So yes… I’m still a priest.”  
“That helps then as those who met you before will remember you as Father Nightroad.”  
He nodded, his features smoothing out as he relaxed.  
“Thanks, I’m just not quite ready to give up the church, it has been a home of sorts for the last while.”

Within minutes they reached the palace side gates to find Baybars was waiting for them patiently within the entranceway.  
“Ah yes, the priest, I remember you now.” His baritone voice so deep it was almost hard to understand.   
Abel smiled at the imposing captain of the guard. The man was of the few who were taller than Abel, with an impressive breath of shoulder and obviously muscular build. He wore the rich burgundy colours of the yencei, trimmed with extra gold braid displaying his status as captain. His complexion was quite dark, swarthy and strong featured. Long thick dreadlocks draped around him adding to his impressive presence.  
“Hello, Sir.”   
“Good morning Baybars, as per our earlier chat, Father Nightroad is staying in the left wing of the guest quarters. I won’t need to see him till late evening when he’s rested.” Seth spoke as they walked along the hallway.  
“That is easy enough to arrange.”  
“While it is a little out of the norm, could you be his guard for the time he’s here.”  
“Are you expecting trouble?” Baybars raised an eyebrow, puzzled.  
“While it’s fairly unknown yet that he is here and should be safe in our lands, I can’t ignore the fact that their ship was shot down because it was Empire bound.”  
Baybars nodded, his long dreadlocks momentarily obscuring his face.  
“It will be so.”  
“Great! I will see you both later this evening. Rest up Abel.” She waved at them both and turned away to go down a different hallway.

Baybars motioned for Abel to follow him and set off at a steady long strided walk. Abel easily kept up, enjoying the chance to walk with someone as long legged as he. After many hallways and doors they arrived at his room.   
“You will find food and drink inside already, please rest up as the Empress requests.” Baybars bid his adieu, leaving Abel at the door.   
Inside was a well stocked dinner cart with a variety of foods and drinks, Abel felt a bit spoiled by the extravagance, having been a poor priest with only four dinars in his pocket the last decade. Setting down his bag, he helped himself to a plate of food and looked around. The room was quaintly furnished with a bed, side tables, a small desk and a full bathroom which was more than adequate for him. The windows were curtained shut to allow full darkness to the occupant, a great perk to allow him to sleep given it was already late morning.  
“Now to shower and sleep like the truly dead,” he mused aloud once finished his meal. He set aside his clothes, carefully gathering up Lilith’s cross, momentarily pressing it to his forehead before laying it on the bedside table.   
“Really things could have gone much worse out there.” He muttered before going in for a quick shower.  
The water soothed some of the tension out of his lanky body, and it was all he could do to dry off enough to pull on some pajamas and crawl into bed. Exhaustion hit him like a ton of bricks as he fell headlong into slumber.

Late afternoon found Astharoshe Asran, Marquis of Kiev and Duchess of Odessa reporting everything that had occurred on the original mission to the Empress, Augusta Vradica. Gone was the somewhat private companionship of early morning and in its place was the cool formality that was the core structure of the Empire.  
“In conclusion, Cardinal Caterina drove a hard bargain but in the end the main goals expressed were met, Your Imperial Majesty. Starting later next week the first shipment of textiles should be met at our western border with an exchange of barrels of wine coming from her estate in Milan. Also Abel Nightroad has joined us for assistance as requested.” Astha bowed her head forward and brought her open hand across her body to above her heart, signalling the end of her report.   
She was resplendent in her blue jewel toned formal uniform, edged with white, silver and red accents. White thigh high boots, dark red leggings, elbow length gloves, her bolero jacket fit snugly over her strong shoulders, the corset dress hugging her shapely body with an attractive flare of a short skirt at her hips. Her ivory hair had regained its faint illuminating shine and body that had been lost in the rigours of the forest barely thirty six hours ago. The trademark red was boldly on display across her brow, no longer a pinky mix in tousled tangled hair. This was what Astharoshe Asran was supposed to look like, a woman with confidence and strength of character. Seth smiled as she accepted the signed papers from Astharoshe.   
“I thank you for your service Duchess. Let us hope this new venture proves fruitful for us both. Please await me in the east garden for some further discussion.” The Empress nodded towards Astharoshe in dismissal.   
The formal portion of the trip had been discussed and would have the council happy with the outcome. Seth wanted to know more about what happened in Londinium, and later between her brother and Astharoshe. She closed up the last few books on her desk and set down her large imperial hat.   
She heard a light knocking from the doorway. She looked up to see Baybars walking into the room, his dark swarthy complexion and long black dreadlocks giving him the slight appearance of the pirates of antiquity.   
“Is everything alright?”  
“Yes...mostly.” The large man shifted his weight back and forth on his feet for a moment before answering further.  
“Call me crazy, but after finding out about the Baron of Luxor’s ability with fire I refuse to put odd occurrences aside... and since Father Nightroad came in this morning, the cleaning staff have notified me of several random exploded lights while working in the rooms along that wing.” He shifted his feet again.   
“Hmm… that is a bit odd. Have maintenance check the circuitry as it could just be a fluke?” He nodded, bowing respectfully before leaving. 

Seth shook her head, as she slowly walked out of the office and to the garden where Astharoshe waited. In 800 years her nanomachines had never activated uninitiated before. Was the veil between the two entities so thin that in the oblivion of sleep his electrical affinity affects his surroundings without his knowledge? She worried about his instability with the full fusion, since it was not a real success with Cain, the crusnik having taken over their brother’s consciousness and ending with terrible results... With Abel would it just be a matter of time before 02 takes over as well? She shuddered to think of that reality.

The friendly chitter of a small squirrel broke her away from her heavy thoughts.   
“Oh, hello there Abel.” She greeted the little light grey squirrel warmly. It bobbed and came up to her foot, sniffing and moving in the jerky fashion of the small creatures.  
“Abel?” Astharoshe questioning voice carried over the few shrubs that provided the privacy the garden gave from the palace entrance.  
“Oh, sorry, wrong Abel. My little squirrel friend here was given the same name since they are both silver haired.” Seth chuckled a little as the squirrel ran ahead to the benches and climbed up along to perch along the back.

Astha was sitting comfortably on a white cushioned garden bench in the cooling evening air when Seth walked around the shrubs, she stood again and bowed to her Empress.  
Seth smiled and waved her to sit. “This is informal, please Astharoshe relax a little as we have a fair bit to talk about.”  
Astha nodded and sat back down, a bit of a cautious expression on her face.   
“Was the report not complete?”  
“Oh no, it was fine and I’ll go through the papers later, I just want to know more about what happened in Londinium.” Seth sat on a small bench across from Astha.  
“Before I start, can I ask you a question?”  
“Of course!”  
“If I may be so bold…Why bring Abel back here?” A bit of surprise fluttered across Seth’s features at Astha’s question. “I know it sounds a little weird coming from me, given I have taken him as my tovarish but... Why the rush and extra concern? What do you feel in regards to him? Again, my apologies if I have crossed you.”  
Astha looked at the Empress’s forever youthful face, her dark hair in a pixie cut fluffed around her cheekbones, large luminous emerald green eyes and a pale pink lips. The expression went from warm to contemplative, her eyes focusing inward more so than at her surroundings. When she focused back on Astha the warmth had returned.

“It is alright, Astharoshe, your mind is why you have the job you do. Abel helped a lot in his last visit here and in that short time we found a very comfortable friendship. He reminds me very much of someone from my past and I’m sure some of that bleeds over. In regards to the rush to get him here… I decided that since we were requesting his return already I felt it was best he recovered here as soon as possible. Then with the crash which was upsetting to say the least, considering I had Ion and you aboard as well.” She paused for a moment. “Abel is a trustworthy man, past the foolish facade and glasses is a brilliant mind, with a softness I can see in how he truly cares about people. I have been around long enough to know it when I see it.”  
Astha nodded, feeling a bit improper having questioned her Empress. “It helps me a lot to hear your view of him… that we do see some of the same traits. Again I apologize for my boldness.”  
Seth waved her off and reached over to pet the little squirrel as he moved over to her lap.  
“Now, what exactly do you want to know about the rest of the trip?”  
“Were you told much of how he was injured or by who?”  
“Caterina while obviously very upset by the whole thing, but quite tight lipped. It was a head injury that resulted in a coma for several days. Professor Wordsworth was his main caretaker for that time and they kept him in the medical rooms of the underground verses the busy Terran hospitals.”  
“Nothing about how he was hurt?”  
“It was sketchy but what I picked up from listening was they all thought he was dead, and it happened a short while before the attempted coup of the Londinium palace. Queen Bridget had not yet passed when Abel was reported initially as fatally wounded by Professor Wordsworth. When we reached the Island after the coup, we were then told that Abel was in a coma and they were unsure of when he would wake. Ion may have more information from Esther as I did not get an audience with her during our time but she was present during the altercation.” She sighed a little, thoughtful. “I find it odd that they all seemed so shocked at the fact he had been hurt. When I worked with him in Venice, he went to the hospital and was treated like all the other victims of my carelessness.” The memory of that conversation flirted across her mind, where as soon as he was satisfied with her answers he had casually removed his medical equipment, returning to work without any residual injury. “Though on further reflection he seems to heal very quickly.”  
“Good agents are like that, tough and hard to care for. Like yourself I would be very surprised to hear of you being hurt in the field.” Seth smiled.  
Astha blushed faintly at the praise. “Fair enough… Again not much was said either on who he was fighting other than it was someone trying to steal old technologies from the ghetto. Most of the event came down to Orden involvement of the Albion throne’s coup.”  
“Learning about the reach of the Orden was both a blessing and a curse I’m finding.” Seth sighed softly. “Ignorance is bliss but I am glad we have a name for this menace to both our Empire and the Terran world... Has he spoken of the fight?”  
“I admit I have not asked him, but Ion mentioned that Abel said he was caught by surprise by his assailant.”   
A small bell chimed from the doorway signalling a servant had arrived. Moments later a friendly servant girl walked in carrying a tea service tray and a bowl of fruit. A quick curtsy and the girl disappeared back into the palace.  
The squirrel jumped off Seth’s lab to check out the cups as soon as they were set down.   
“I doubt tea is in your diet little guy.” Astha waved the silver squirrel away and served tea.  
“Now… what are your thoughts towards Abel since his injury? You were worried about my safety on the ship and given your earlier question I am curious.”  
Astha took a sip of tea, giving some thought to her reply.  
“I was... perhaps a bit over reactive to a few things that had happened after we encountered those men that were following us…”  
“What happened?”  
“Being he’s from the Vatican and the rumours of how the AX agents are all augmented or somehow enhanced… and I’m not sure exactly what I saw to be honest... but it didn’t feel like Abel for a few moments. That was not the first time I have questioned my eyesight, the other time was when we had to jump out of the ship and my parachute failed. He caught me… with use of well… wings or some kind of flying device.”  
Astha expected some surprise from the Empress’s youthful face, but she took in the revelations without a twitch, casting her gaze towards the squirrel the only reaction.   
“We all have our own demons,” Seth said quietly. “The Vatican does exploit that to some degree… Abel has expressed his need to talk to you about his so that you both can continue to work together.” Seth took some grapes to give to the little squirrel, giving Astha a few moments before changing the subject.  
“So the ship you were coming back on was shot down from the ground?”   
“Yes, when I saw the locator light on the missile it was coming up to us from below.”  
“And the men you and Abel stopped in the forest were connected?”  
“Yes, Ion overhead them when he was separated from us that they had orders to shoot down any ships going to the Empire. Then last night the four I killed, were under contract to shoot any survivors and take them. They were armed for methuselah passengers ...Oh, while we were waiting for your ship, we were talking about how we seemed to have problems along the way to Milan. Abel suggested that the Orden could have had a hand in that.”  
“That doesn’t bode well…”  
Seth sat quietly as she mulled over the information, taking a few sips of tea. Absently she reached out to pet the squirrel as it finished its grapes.  
“How is he today?” Astha finally asked after a while, unable to put off inquiring about him any longer.  
The Empress smirked a little. “Eating and sleeping apparently. I will be seeing him in a little while... with the new information I will ask him to help us as an agent rather than the cushy job of a trade envoy.”  
Astha nodded and finished her tea, setting the cup down.   
“I am comfortable with him overall even with the current… observations, and working with him has taught me new perspectives. Seeing how you have placed your trust in him, I will continue to do the same.”  
Seth smiled, nodding in agreement.  
“I will not order you to do anything you are not in agreement with, as I believe choice is a powerful thing. I do feel he is a person that is worthy of our trust and I’m happy to hear you still hold him in favorable regards.” She paused to set down her own empty cup. “Now the palace is not really the best place to gather information regarding the Orden, so depending on how quickly he wants to get back to work we could have him moved to your estate to allow him more freedom if you are willing.”  
“If you have need of me, I am always ready, my Empress. My home is always open.” Astha said more formally.  
Seth smiled again before standing up, “I’ve kept you long enough today. Be well and I will send you communications regarding Abel, no worries.”  
Astha smiled in return as she stood up, taking her hat and bowing respectfully. “Thank you for the candid talk, it has helped me greatly.”  
Seth grinned and scooped up the squirrel. “What can I say? In all my years, a good talk over tea always seems to help a friend.”  
Astha smiled warmly, “Thank you, Seth, I look forward to hearing from you.”

Astha chose to walk home from the palace, her estate being about half an hour away. The busy streets were a comforting din of noise, various vehicles travelling past, the ebb and flow of people walking along the streets. Her mind wandered over the conversation with Seth.   
The connection of the church to what Abel suffered from, what he called the mark of his sin… wings and a predatory gaze… the seemingly strong electric shocks she had received from him twice now. It made a lot of sense now especially given the initial reactions of the AX members to Abel’s injury, the idea had even more substance. She had wondered what his extra talent was to be in the AX agency, as he was a founding member and obviously close to the Cardinal. Being augmented had be to hard on a person, but why did he hide it so much? What would make him think he was more methuselah than Terran, what had the church done to him? 

Baybars stood in the hallway of the guest wing. Of the eight lights along the hallway, the three closest to Abel’s room were blown. Scanning along the walls nothing else looked damaged or a cause for shortages… peculiar he thought. It was nearing 7 o clock and Augusta wanted to see the priest soon. He raised a meaty hand and knocked on the door loudly. There were sounds of someone stumbling into what could possibly be a chair, some muttering and then the door opened presenting the slightly disheveled silver haired man. He was fresh from the shower, his hair still wet and draped around his shoulders, and he was wearing what looked like an unadorned version of his priest clothes, all black and conservatively tailored. His glasses slid down his nose as he looked around, jumping slightly when his gaze found Baybars.  
“Oh! Hello Sir! I will be but a moment!.” Abel said apologetically, turning back into the room to grab a ribbon for his hair.   
“Good evening, Father Nightroad.” Baybars greeted while Abel finished tying up his hair. “I’m to escort you to the Empress as soon as you are ready.'' Baybars looked into the room covertly, his suspicions seeing nothing to warrant the electrical disturbances.  
“Of course, sorry to keep you waiting!” Abel apologized, “please lead the way.”

Abel followed the captain along the various hallways within the palace, as confusing as any cathedral he had ever been in. The long rest and almost sickening amount of food helped settle the crusnik, as far as he could tell. Lilith had surfaced a few times while he dreamed, guiding him to quieter memories and pressing the issue that the food, while a temporary fix was not enough. 

They arrived at the doorway to a room, that was more like an office than a meeting room, with a few bookshelves along the walls and a large ornate desk with plush chairs set around it.  
“Please wait here, the Empress will see you shortly.” Baybars bowed slightly and left the room.

Abel stood by the bookcases, looking over the room in search of anything that showed more of Seth’s personality. The Empire loved color, jewel tones and intricate details embellished with metals. This room was no different, warm wood tones along with lush fabrics of aquamarine and topaz, he wondered if it was influenced by Seth's love of pre Armageddon history.   
He missed so much after Lilith’s death and had selfishly left Seth to deal with the aftermath of the War. To physically see that she was able to build and manage the Empire impressed him immensely. While she was trained alongside him when they prepared for Mars, her focus had little to do with running an Empire. Random thoughts fluttered along his mind as his eyes scanned over the volumes of books.  
One title caught his attention, “Historical Accounts of the Methuselah Human War.” He read out loud. Part of him wanted to ignore the book, another was morbidly curious about looking at the darkest time of his existence. He reached out with a white gloved hand, sliding it mostly out of the bookcase.  
“I wouldn’t read that, it’s rubbish.” Seth said from the doorway.  
Abel startled initially, nearly dropping the book before he slid the book back to its spot. He turned and bowed to her.  
“Good day, your Imperial Majesty Augusta Vradica.” He greeted formally.  
A cheeky grin spread across her face as she closed the door.   
“Good day, envoy of the Duchess of Milan, Abel Nightroad.” She replied before walking around to the office chair behind the desk.  
“I’m not entirely sure what I need to do as an envoy, last time was most definitely not the norm.” He sat down in the casual chair set in front of the desk, the chair actually being deep enough to accommodate his lanky frame.  
“I was hoping to have you sent here away, so this was somewhat already in the works with the trade agreements, Astharoshe has done all the work here really so there isn’t much you need to do as an envoy.”  
“When I left last time I told you I was going after him. My coming here, regardless of the situation wouldn’t be much more than a brief visit.”  
“I know, but even a short visit is better than nothing.”  
“I...I can’t argue you there.”  
“Besides, you can start your search from here. We need help with the Orden, Astharoshe mentioned that you already have suspicions about their involvement with this trade talk.”  
He nodded in agreement, “the Orden will lead me back to him, and if I can stop him then perhaps I can destroy them as well.”  
“That’s a lot for you to take on.”  
“It’s what I have to do, to set things right again.”  
Seth sighed as she met his eyes, stubborn resolve heavy in those light blue eyes.   
“Ok, I won’t stall anymore.” She reached into her desk and withdrew a small vial filled with a dark red liquid.  
“So… this is all I usually have to take to replenish my crusnik. From what you’ve told me your system has done some changes and is in a constant need for fuel per say?”  
Abel looked down at his hands, gloved and pristine white on the outside yet feeling the dark, repulsive stain of blood on them.  
“Yes... It seems to be a constant need now, the only break I’ve had from the ache was after I found the pilots dead and I let the crusnik... recharge… I’m sorry Seth.”  
She nodded quietly, his obvious discomfort rolling off him in waves.  
“You do what you have to in the field.” She paused and got up, walking around the desk to kneel beside him, her hand resting on his.  
He raised his eyes to look into hers, mournful icy blue to knowing emerald green.  
“You’ve changed so much yet not at all. Gone is the simmering anger but still a gentle soul wrapped in a mind that hates injustice.”  
He smiled softly and slid out a hand to pat hers.  
“Perhaps, as it seems I am always fighting something.”  
She stood back up resting a hip on the corner of the desk, pulling back from the endearing moment.  
“What do you think you need to get to optimal levels for the crusnik?”  
“If I indulged the cravings...buckets.”  
Her eyes widened, “not sure I have that much in storage.”  
“Logically a small concentrated portion would be sufficient but Lilith keeps urging me that they need more, that food and sugar won’t be enough…”  
“Right, you said that you can communicate somewhat with the new nanomachines, a fascinating development scientifically speaking, if a bit terrifying.”  
“Heh, yeah it can get crowded in here.” He gestured to his forehead.  
“Has she told you much about where they came from?”  
“Only that they travel from host to host, consuming everything they can… and absorb some of their host to carry over. It’s the difference between 02 and Lilith. 02 is the old alien host and Lilith is well…like her.”  
“And the ability to keep the host alive is incredible… you were headless and Cain survived being turned to ash in the atmosphere…”  
Abel was quiet for a moment. “Cain can’t seem to keep his form and wanted my records from the lab… when that didn’t work he wanted my… corpse.”   
“So how will you stop him? It seems neither of you can actually die.” She asked quietly, her gaze weighty.  
He sighed, and stood up, walking over to the bookcases, fidgeting with his gloves and then Lilith’s cross.   
“I…. I don’t know how yet. Perhaps only our weapons, my scythe and his lance can actually hurt us proper as they are a part of us. I am hoping to gain some knowledge from conversing with Lilith but so far I can’t control the engagements consciously.”  
“What happens if you were to lose?”  
“Armageddon happens again? He wants to burn the world and make it anew… no pressure to succeed.” He finished sarcastically.  
Seth let out a long breath. “Nope, none at all… easy peasy.” She matched his sarcasm.  
Coming back to her he opened his arms for a hug, needing to ease the dark foreboding the conversation had brought.   
She quickly obliged, her small frame setting her head just above his diaphragm, where she could easily hear his heart thudding in its soothing steady rhythm and his arms enfolded her giving her comfort she had truly missed.  
“I fully admit I’m terrified to fail, but I must defeat him at all costs... too many have suffered since that day we discovered these damned things.” His deep voice resonated through his chest as he spoke. “What you’ve done here is amazing, giving those we brought back and their descendants a home on a place that had forgotten them… I find that since the fusion my mind drifts back to Mars and then the War when I dream. Perhaps it’s because it’s all her nanomachines remember, but it’s like picking at an old scar till it bleeds. I see now that Cain was lost to us the minute we injected him.”  
“Then I must do my part. Let’s figure out how to manage the cravings so you don’t become like Him, that you stay you and not a puppet to the crusnik.” She broke away to look into his eyes, seeing his stern determination in the azure blue depths, reminiscent of the angry lieutenant she remembered from so long ago.  
“I’ll try anything...I had to warn Astha before things got away on me last night. I used to have complete control of this monster and now it’s like a rabid dog on a chain.”  
“Are they already taking over?” She asked quietly.  
“No, I am still quite aware and conscious of when it’s my thoughts and theirs. It’s the hunger… it lashes out under any stress it seems.”  
Seth went back to her desk and flopped into the plush chair.   
“Dehydration doesn’t work, suspension syrup was mediocre at best, the virus dies out within days, and storage needs to be dark and cold at all times. I’ll need a few days in my lab… are you ok to see Astharoshe in the morning?”  
“Yes, I think so.”  
“She asked about you earlier, she thinks the Vatican augmented you and I didn’t confirm or deny that logic. Her mind is trying to find answers to help understand you. I have a feeling she will be more open to the truth than most.”  
Abel sat down again too, a large sigh expelling from him as he mulled over her words.  
“I don’t know how… given she’s technically food… Wait, does Baybars know about the crusnik?”  
Seth smirked a little. “Yes, I have always told my head bodyguard about it in case I ever have to activate. It keeps them from wanting to attack me instead of whatever threat I would be fighting.”   
“Oh! That is kind of a good thing to avoid.”   
“Yeah… I’m talking from experience. Your closest friends need to know about it before they see it in use, the shock of it is overwhelming to most.”  
Her words brought back memories of Esther’s shock and break down from when she witnessed his monstrous form the first time.  
“I’ve never willingly told or shown anyone… especially if they could be on the menu.” Abel said ruefully and then was quiet for a little while, thinking. His gaze wandered over his hands and long legs till they stopped at his well worn boots, triggering him to stand up.  
“I have to contact the Professor! I promised I would let them know when I reached the Empire. He too was going to work on a blood supplement.”  
Seth’s eyes widened at his sudden movements.  
“I have a secure line you can use… but who the Professor?”  
“An exceptionally smart man I know, and a good friend. He is the one who figured out the crusnik could survive on sugary foods to a point.”  
She nodded and reached into her desk to get out a communicator.   
“Take it with you, so if he calls back you can answer right away.”


	12. Coming Clean

“Iron Maiden please come in.”   
“Abel?!” A startled sounding Sister Kate replied.  
“Yes Ma’am, I’m checking in as requested.” He reported. “I arrived early this morning and now settled for a short stay.”  
“I’m so glad to hear you’re ok even if you’re a day late arriving… we heard rumours of a few ships taken damage around the Uber Berlin region.”  
“Ah yeah.. we were um… shot down, but we are fine and in the Empire now.”  
“What!? Are you ok? Ooh I knew I should have pushed harder to take you instead!”  
“No, what’s done is done. My companions and I are all in good health.”  
“If I had taken you, there wouldn’t have been any crashing.” She grumbled. “Do you want me to connect you to the Professor?”  
“Yes please, Sister Kate.” Abel smiled as he waited for her to get William on the connection.

Seth watched as Abel talked on the communicator, hearing the familiarity between him and this Sister Kate. She tried to envision what his life was like at the Vatican, being a special agent yet still being held to old fashioned codes of conduct used by the church. She sighed softly, having so little experience outside of the Empire it was hard to grasp what Abel’s daily life was like.

“Abel!” Williams smooth voice filled the room. “What a pleasant surprise, though you’re a bit late checking in… causing trouble so soon?”  
“What?” Abel chuckled, good heartedly from Williams teasing. “No, I haven’t had a chance yet honestly... We were shot down and had to get picked up. I will tell you more about it another time though. Have you had any luck with the... supplements?”  
“No luck so far, the virus seems to not carry well with any preservation techniques I’ve had a chance to try out. Dehydration and liquid suspension failed to carry the virus live. Freezing has been promising, though I’m not sure how portable that will be for you. I’m currently testing the limits of the freezing so no conclusive results yet I’m afraid.”  
Abel grunted, a bit discouraged. “Perhaps I can get some help with research here. My metabolism seems to have increased and the usual methods are just getting me by.”  
“That is a bit of a problem. I will contact you as soon as I have anything remotely to a success my friend… if this transmitter is your contact point anyway.”  
Seth nodded at Abel.  
“Yes, this one will be for now.”  
“Good, I will let Kate know.”  
“How is Esther?”  
William chuckled. “She’s showing Albion that she means business. A new cabinet and House of Lords are in the works, poor Walsh is wearing out his boots trying to keep up I’d say.”  
“I knew she would be great.”  
“She is just what the country needed I think… Anyway, I need to get back to the lab, especially with you needing a bigger dosage.  
“Thank you William.”  
“It’s the least I can do, now to work I go!” William said before ending the call.

Abel looked for a long moment at the communicator, sorting his thoughts.  
“Frozen capsules shouldn’t be that hard to make.” Seth mused.  
“But at what volume?”  
“We will start small. Let me gather some supplies and while you’re at Astharoshe’s place, I’ll see what magic I can whip up.” She paused a moment, taking a slow breath. “By the way, did you know anything about the electricity surges while you sleep?”  
Abel’s eyes widened and he shook his head slowly. “Has there been a problem? I know at times Lilith appeared in my dreams to stop 02’s awareness from dredging up… unpleasant memories but I was not aware of any physical effects.”  
“Baybars mentioned it earlier, as he’s leery about anything that seems out of place, especially after learning about Radu’s fire affinity.” She got up and walked over to the bookcases, not wanting to meet Abel’s eyes. “I’ve never had the issues you’re having, 03 has never done anything without explicit commands.”  
She turned around to study his reaction to her words.  
He was paler than moments before. His icy gaze was downcast, staring at his hands like they were foreign.  
“Just promise me Abel, that you will not fall like Cain. If he’s as powerful as you say, I… don’t know if I could stop him... or you if 02 takes over.”  
Abel stood up and walked over to her, his tall broad shouldered body towering over her small, lithe one. His hands reached out to hers and engulfed them. Sad blue eyes looked into the worried depths of her green.  
“Seth, I promise I won’t... fall to the crusnik… I don’t know what the final outcome will be... but there is... no...other… way… no one else can stop him. I can not fail.” His voice was thick with emotion, going lower and deeper as he struggled to formulate the words around the lump in his throat.   
Seth pulled her hands free and hugged his middle, her cheek pressing into his lean stomach, several tears sliding down her cheeks. He leaned over, hugging her in return.  
“Help me get back out there, to end this before more are harmed.”  
She nodded against him, unable to speak yet as she struggled to contain her own burst of emotions. She was afraid for him and of him, for what could happen with the full fusion. She had only found him again and to lose him now would be heartbreaking.  
He shared her fears, the very real possibility of Cain destroying him completely, taking his body to fix his own and carry out the path of destruction the crusnik desired. He was shaken to find out that in slumber, activation was happening, going forward he would have to avoid sleeping so deeply.   
Abel sighed and moved away from her, kneeling down to stop towering over her.  
Her emerald eyes nearly glowed from her strong emotions, the wet eyelashes clumped slightly together and her cheek was reddened from pressing into his clothes. She reminded him of when he first met Esther, a youth with big eyes and all emotions except Seth was far more than that. She had almost a millennium of experience, like him except she has lived all of those years where he had lain hidden for most.  
She looked at his pale features, the long silver hair pulled back into a ponytail except for the long bangs that swept around his face. A striking face of strong angles with high cheekbones, straight nose and a pointed chin that was classically handsome. Simple rimmed glasses with a double nose bridge accentuated his light blue eyes, though she didn’t understand why he had glasses with his eyesight. She furrowed her brow as she puzzled over the glasses.  
“Is there something on my face?” He asked as he felt her gaze focus. They had both taken time to really look at each other, reacquainting their eyes to the once familiar faces.  
“We both know very well you have amazing eyesight… so why are you wearing those?”  
“Headaches from light actually... I guess I spent too much time in her tomb and my light sensitivity it a bit high. Professor made these for me,” he reached up and took them off, offering for her to look at them. He was secretly relieved at the change in topic.  
“But they are not tinted, how would they help?”  
“He felt I would be asked to remove my glasses if they were tinted, so he found a way to manipulate the glass fractures to do away with the glare of the sun without a tint. My other set were made a little off so that I didn’t see the best, it helped with my clumsy act the Vatican accepted of me.” She raised them up and peered through, seeing they did not change her vision at all, but did feel the reduction of glare from the lights.  
“Why did you have to be clumsy?”  
“No one pays attention if they think you’re incompetent. And I was very… awkward when I returned to the world. Caterina and William helped me create the fool act as a way to keep gossip down and in a way hide me in plain sight.”  
“Interesting solution.” She settled his glasses back on his face, adjusting them till they sat evenly.  
“Do I pass muster now?”  
She smirked and nodded, giving him room to get back on his feet. Walking over to her desk she picked up the vial of methuselah blood and handed it to him.  
“I’ll have more in the morning but this should tide you over till then.”  
“Thanks… do you mind if I grab a few books to read? There is really no history of the Empire on record that I found. Knowing now of extra power surges happening from me… I don’t want to sleep quite so much, or so deeply.”  
“That is understandable and I’m sure Baybars would settle down some if you didn’t affect the power grid,” she moved past him and selected three books from the bookcase. “These ones are good, more to the point and less embellished than most.” She set them in his hands. “I’m so glad we got to have some time together… it’s been too long. Now, let’s meet up in the morning over breakfast and then I’ll help you get to the Asran estate.”  
He smiled warmly, tucking the books under his arm and the vial in a pocket. “Ok, your Imperial Majesty.”  
“Good night, big brother.” She grinned and gave him a quick hug before going to the door.

Baybars was just walking towards the room, having found no source to the power surges from the maintenance side of things. His dark eyes flickered to Abel cautiously before settling on the Empress’s petite form. Her body language was very relaxed and comfortable which meant the meeting went well. Abel was standing just behind her, holding some books… his stance was more awkward and unsure in position. Baybars had earned his position with unquestionable loyalty, fierce battle skills and the ability to read body language easily, especially the Empress’s.   
He stopped a few feet away and bowed respectfully.  
“Our guest is ready to return to his rooms?”  
“Yes, if you don’t mind helping him find his way back. And I think we are ok without any monitoring, so rest easy tonight Captain.” Seth smiled and patted his arm as she walked past.

Abel quickly found himself back in his room, Baybars being a quiet and effective guide. It seemed that the captain was really a man of few words, and while polite enough did not invite friendly overtures. Abel set the books down on the side table near the bed, followed by his glasses as his mind wandered over the conversation with Seth.  
Was he in danger of losing himself to the crusnik? The electrical surges must be when 02 is more active, when the dreams take on more upsetting topics...which begs the question of how to stop them? Was the answer to sleep in short periods or was it because of the crusnik needing more blood? He sighed and reached for the vial in his pocket.  
“What a troublesome beast you are.” He muttered out loud as he popped the cap off the vial. As soon as the lid was off he could feel the buzzing of the nanomachines, his skin felt tingly and his jaw ached with the pressure of impending transformation.  
“Crusnik activation level 0%.” He hoped that would work, to command the nanomachines to stop their unauthorized activation.  
There was a pause, either because Abel held his breath or due to processing the command but the buzzing faded and the ache eased off quickly.  
“Good.” He drained the vial, swallowing the contents in one gulp. Immediately a shudder went through his body as the crusnik absorbed the meager offering. He shook his head in disgust, thinking on the fact that this would likely become a regular occurrence then snapped the lid back on and set it on the night table.

It wasn’t that late yet… he had already slept a fair bit of the day. He took off his jacket and boots, but not ready to get into his night clothes quite yet. He was anxious, he half wondered now if coming to the Empire was a good idea… he picked up one of the books and paced around the room, randomly flipping through and reading various passages in the book.   
“This isn’t getting me anywhere.” He tossed the book on the bed, seeing only 45 minutes had passed. He felt jittery and needed to move around, quite different from the more lethargic energy levels he had most evenings.

A respectful knock sounded from the door, startling him. He furrowed his brows wondering if perhaps Seth had found something, as he walked to the door. Upon opening it he saw a maid with a large brown paper wrapped package held in her arms.  
“Um.. excuse me Sir, I have a delivery for you, Sorry for the inconvenience.” She said softly.  
“Thank you Miss, I appreciate you bringing this to me.” She handed him the package and an envelope.  
“Good day Sir!” She bobbed a quick curtesy and backed away from the door and walked quickly down the hallway.   
Abel watched her go for a few moments until his eyes drifted up to the lights, remembering Seth telling him of the power surges… he sighed and withdrew back into the room   
He set the package down and looked at the envelope. “Guest of the Empire - A.N.” Was how it was addressed in a bold cursive writing that bordered on some of the calligraphy he had seen in Rome. Turning it over nothing more was written, “How odd.”   
The letter within was written in the same strong, flowing style.  
“Nightroad,

My mind can not rest until we speak again. Here are the Empire clothes you had before, so that you can blend in better. My Butler, Hector is waiting by the entrance of the palace for you if you are able to meet. I understand that you may want to wait till morning so he will only be there till 8:15. 

Astharoshe”

He set the letter down and looked around the room for a clock. 7:52, so not much time. Was he ready for this? Seth felt that things would go better than expected, and perhaps it had been long enough dancing around the issue… the sooner the better perhaps was the best way to handle it…   
He quickly disrobed and opened the paper package to find the long flowing coat, tunic and fitted pants he wore before. He enjoyed wearing them, the light soft material and the ease of moment was a treat after the heavy, course wool of the Vatican uniform. He smiled a bit at the freshly laundered fragrance as he dressed. The Empire seemed conscious of things like color, smell and movement… except for the odd hats that did nothing for the sunlight, though to be fair the barrier kept the strength of the sun to a low level.  
The tunic was a simple cut, a deep V neck, black trimmed with thick borders of white, the hem ending near his knees. The pants a simple woven material of black with similar trim going up the outside seam, luckily his boots fit well under them as the armoured portions were still decorated with the red cross of the AX. The long coat, fitted across the torso but sewn to drape easily around the hips and fall to the ankles, which made movement easy. The coat was much more decorative with white and gold embroidery along the collar and down the outer seam of the arms, including some common jewels at the joints, his were azure blue stones. At the bottom of the package was the hat, done in a similar form to what the young pope wears. His eyes flickered to the clock, 8:05. He grabbed the letter and stuffed it into his pocket.   
A few strides and he was out the door and going down the hallway that the maid had taken.  
When the hallway opened up to a forey with two other hallways going in opposite directions. He paused, looking at each before going with the one on the right.   
Abel’s long strides quickly ate up the distance and again he was at another division but a maid was in this one, dusting a decorative display of musical instruments.  
“Ah… excuse me miss?”  
She paused a moment, and turned to look at him questionly. “Yes?”  
“I’ve seen to have gotten turned around, is this the way to the main entrance?” Abel easily brought forth his fool persona.  
“Tch, you should pay more attention when going in a building…. take the left hallway and you’ll be at the entrance.” She scolded before turning back to her work.  
“Thank you miss.” And he quickly went down the proper hallway. It opened up to a more elaborate room with soaring ceilings and stained glass of jewel tones colouring the dim beams of sunlight that poured in. Ahh, he remembered this room from last time, finally. He went out the large double doors and stopped at the bottom of the stairs looking around for this “Hector”.

An older man stood waiting near a park bench at the left of the stairway. He wore a long coat that was a soft grey and trimmed with the dark blue that Astha wore on her empire clothes. His face was kind, showing some age lines around brown eyes that were friendly when they connected with Abel’s. Ah yes, he remembered that face from his stay before, just didn’t know the fellows name.  
“Mister Nightroad, I am honored that we get to meet again.” He walked up to Abel and bowed his head in greeting.  
“Hello sir!” Abel returned the greeting.   
“I do apologize for the late missive, but my lady did hope you would be open to a meeting… if you will, please come with me to the estate.” He gestured towards the car parked along the curb.  
Abel followed him, “by all means, I would be lost otherwise trying to find her estate.” His insides were flip flopping with nervousness for when he saw Astha again.

Thankfully the car ride was short, and Hector talked of the early fall weather and that it was getting to be a busy time in the city, as the products of the farmlands came in to be processed. Luckily, most of that happened across the river on the Terran side of Byzantium. Abel absorbed the information as it was interesting, to listen to something not involved in politics, warfare or his current problems… which talking with Astha was one of them.  
Once at the estate and out of the car, Hector walked ahead of Abel to the gate. “Please excuse the cats… they are always a pest when my lady has been away for a while.”  
Abel laughed softly, “these are more than house cats, in all sense of the term.”  
Hector grinned at Abel in agreement.  
Two large tigers were waiting at the opening of the gate.  
“Back off you two, he’s invited.” Hector scolded the large beasts, who flicked their tails and blinked at Abel before walking off.  
“The Duchess will be here momentarily, please wait in the library.” 

Alone in the library Abel sat down in a dark blue velvet armchair, taking off his hat and setting it down on the table beside an ornate brass lamp. He ran his hands along his hair, adjusting his ponytail absently.   
Should he show her the crusnik? To what level? Was that safe? Looking around the room… it wasn’t exactly big enough for his wingspan and the scythe would be even worse. And honestly, he would have to disrobe some to avoid ripping his new clothes… perhaps she wouldn’t ask that of him.   
Abel’s heart rate was elevated, stress was coursing through him, as his thoughts tumbled together, he flinched when he felt a twinge in his shoulders and down his arms. The lights suddenly flickered in the room.  
“Holy Hell!” He cursed in surprise, this must have been what Seth was talking about… except he was awake for it.   
“I know I’m impressive at times but that’s the first time I’ve had that response.” Astha walked into the room, having heard Abel’s curse just as she entered the room.  
His startled blue eyes snapped up to meet her golden ones, his expression was blank momentarily as she caught him off guard.  
“Oh! I’m sorry Astha, th-that wasn’t directed at you… but ah… good evening?” Abel reached back and rubbed his neck in embarrassment, his cheeks flushed slightly. He looked again at his statureque host.  
She was dressed in her casual attire, a fitted blue low cut tunic, red leggings and a white cloth belt tied around her hips, her hair was wet still from her bath so it hung longer around her face and neck, sitting along her collarbone. She had a teasing smile on her face, having thoroughly enjoyed her entrance.  
“My fault for walking in without knocking, bad manners on my part.” She walked over to sit on the mate to his chair. “Thank you for coming on such short notice… I just couldn’t rest my mind any longer… do you want any tea?”  
“When I got your letter it seemed like now was as good a time as any... No tea for now, I fear I would need something stronger for my nerves.” He chuckled nervously.  
She smiled encouragingly, “anything you need I can probably find for you.”  
Oh lord, once she knows that her blood is what I need… he thought in despair. He felt that twinge in his shoulders from earlier start again and looked at the lamp to see it flicker once more.  
“Usually my power is reliable but perhaps this lamp is on its last legs.” Astha said as she too saw it flicker.  
“It’s not your lamp… it’s me.” He took a deep breath, dread making his stomach feel like lead.  
She blinked in confusion and leaned ahead in her chair, reaching out to place her hand on his. He jumped a little at the contact but didn’t push her hand away.  
“Tovarish?” Watching his handsome visage pale, his blue eyes turn their focus inward and unseeing was alarming.   
He took another steadying breath and then his eyes looked into hers. “What I will tell you can never be shared…very few know of my… condition as it’s not something I willingly talk about, but for your safety and perhaps partnership to continue that I do this.”  
She gently squeezed his hands with hers, seeing how hard this was for him, wanting to give him comfort.  
“Tovarish… I promise on my family’s honour to not share whatever you tell me.” He could see the sincerity in her eyes as she spoke.   
He nodded, and lifted her hands off of his quickly as he felt another twinge start. Again the light flickered but thankfully no arc of electricity.  
She furrowed her brows at his push away of her touch, and then raised an eyebrow as the light blipped again.  
“So that flicker is being caused by you?”  
A sigh escaped him. “Yes, apparently it has happened while I sleep… but this is the first I’ve had it happen while awake.”  
“So… that zap when I first saw you in Londinium and then the other night after I pressed you, is a part of your augmentation?”  
He got up and walked over to the bookcase, needing space as he wanted to discuss this more clinical, like how William does with bad news. Astha was not Esther, she was sharp and technical… and would pick at him to figure out how he ticked.   
“How much do you know about the start of the methuselah race?”  
“The usual, a virus was discovered after Armageddon and it changed some Terrans over 800 years ago, it enhanced us, making us the new human Empire because we are the next step in evolution… What does that have to do with you and your augmentations?” She paused a moment, “what did the church do to you?”  
He was about to tell her that he was the next step of the evolution she spoke of, when it registered that she mentioned the church. He blinked at her blankly for a moment before he remembered that Seth mentioned that Astha had glommed onto the idea that he was augmented by the Vatican. It would be so easy, he thought, to allow that lie to cover the truth, but it wasn’t right to hide this any longer.  
He shook his head, his hair tie loosened some by his movements untied and his hair fell around his face. Without his glasses and bound hair he looked so different to her, gone was all traces of the fool he portrayed not so long ago.  
“No, the church never did this to me… I did this to myself a very long time ago, AX only helped me come out of a dark place in my life... I used the term augmentation as a handy explanation, but in truth it’s not quite right…. What do you remember seeing yesterday when you um… manhandled me?” He stood behind the chair facing her, not quite ready to sit close to her. She tilted her head back a little to look at him. She felt a pang of guilt at the fact she had gotten physical with him.  
“Your eyes flickered between red and blue, your skin darkened and… I thought I saw... fangs when you spoke, but that’s impossible and I can’t understand it.” Her eyes touched on each part of his face as she described what she saw.  
“You have very good instincts Astha, why do you not trust your eyes?” He asked quietly.  
“Why would you change? Your eyes… your teeth? Even as a methuselah our changes are more subtle unless it’s our hands.” She looked away, her gaze wandering around the room. “You did say you’re more like me than a Terran but that was more than a methuselah.”  
“I’m not a… Terran anymore and never was a methuselah… I’m a Crusnik.” He looked down at his hands, not able to look at her now. “For those brief moments I... I was fighting an internal battle similar to when a methuselah fights their blood urges.”  
“What urges would you be fighting?” She looked back at him, studying his features. Unease and tension was starkly apparent on his face. Comprehension was dawning as her mind worked through his words and his nervousness.   
“You wanted my blood.” She stated flatly.  
She watched him swallow slowly and his eyes were darkened with guilt.  
“Yes…I can only take in… methuselah blood.”  
He watched her nod in acknowledgment, her golden eyes examining him critically, but no fear could be found.  
“This… Crusnik is not natural? You weren’t born like this?”  
“No, it was something that happened while we were on our mission…perhaps it would have been better had I never found that ship...or he had just died, instead of us saving him.” Abel mumbled distractedly, seeming lost for the moment in memories.  
“We? There’s more Crusniks?  
He blinked as he heard her question, silently cursing his careless mention of Mars.  
“The others who were with me long ago... We discovered the Crusnik and stupidly injected it into our bodies… for what we gained I don’t believe it was worth it in the end. And there are only a few of us left.” He didn’t want to have her figure out the connection between him and Seth, as that was Seth’s secret to share.  
Astha was silent for a few moments. “How long ago are we talking? You don’t look more than mid twenties for a Terran and if you’re more like a methuselah then you could be a few hundred years old.”  
“I’m good chunk older than you, is all I will say about that.” Connecting a very old non aging being to the Eternal Empress wouldn’t be much of a stretch… Abel hoped she wouldn’t press more about his age.  
She smirked thinking he was sensitive about his age. “Ok, I’ll leave that alone for now… so your Crusnik is a virus take over like those bitten by us?”  
“It’s more like semi sentient alien technology that needs the bacillus virus to power it.” There, he said it… summed up in as technical terms as he could about what the crusnik was.  
Astha was quiet for a while again, studying him.  
“Can you show me?”  
The lamp flickered again as his heart rate rocketed, even knowing she would ask, hearing it made his stomach drop with anxiety. Again the lamp flickered, making them both look at the offending object.  
“I didn’t used to be so... visible with the electrical affinity… until I was badly hurt and they gave me full fusion to bring me back. Now… it’s stronger and less restricted than ever… I refuse to show you the higher level so this will have to do.” He spoke quickly, apologetic in tone. “I won’t lie, I’m quite the uh… sight… so prepare yourself.”  
She nodded again, her ivory hair swaying with the movement, the red strip contrasting against the paleness of the rest. He could see her muscles tense in her arms, her tunic tightened across her chest as she braced for what was to come.  
He closed his eyes, whispering in his mind for Lilith’s cool guidance if 02 tried to do more than what the restrictions were set to.  
“Crusnik activation level 20 percent.”  
His long, loose hair seemed to get a mind of its own, rising above his head in a crown like form, the lamp was flickering intermittently now, casting odd shadows in the room. She could see the darkening of his skin, he clenched his jaw momentarily and then the contour changed becoming slightly elongated. Her gaze flickered to his hands… what had been long graceful hands in white cloth, black talons had pierced the fabric and the hands were stretching against the cloth. Astha could feel the hairs along her arms stand up, the air held a charged feel to it. She held her breath, waiting for him to open his eyes. There was dark beauty in the seamless transition to this Crusnik form, but even so there was a feeling of menace about Abel, the possibility of danger.  
He could hear her heartbeat accelerate, her breath catch as she watched his wretched form take over. He had forgotten to take off his gloves… yet another pair destroyed. His stomach roiled with tension as he kept his eyes closed.  
“Open your eyes Abel, look at me.”  
Red eyes peered at her now where blue ones should have been. She took in a sharp breath as she felt how his gaze was not entirely friendly.   
“This is… the Crusnik, the… vampire to methuselah.” He said slowly, his voice lower and rough sounding, she could see how all his teeth were now sharp fangs. His lips were quite dark and the fangs showed up starkly as he spoke.  
She could feel the predatory intensity from those red eyes, her instincts telling her to move out of his reach, as those claws and teeth could tear her apart easily. Gone, was the slender priest who seemed as threatening as a newborn kitten and in his place, a being with lethal abilities seething just under the surface.  
She watched as he closed his eyes again, the room was feeling charged with energy and the lamp was now brighter than normal… the loud snap of the filament startled them both. She half leapt from the chair and he jerked backwards a step. The room darkened some as the only remaining light was on the far wall behind Abel, giving him a slightly sinister appearance.  
“What about the… wings when you caught me?”  
He looked around the room and shook his head.  
“Astha, my wings wont fit in this room and I don’t want to go to that level… not with you so close.”  
Abel could feel Lilith's cool touch swirling inside his body keeping 02 out of this conversation, but it wasn’t easy. The push for higher activation was getting stronger, his shoulders itched and burned where the nanomachines clustered to build his wings. He rolled his shoulders to get some relief.   
“Crusnik activation level 0%.” He faded back to himself, and picked at the shredded gloves to avoid looking at her. She watched, mesmerized at the shifting of his entire self from predator to his familiar features.   
“Are you a… machine?”  
“Not really… Nanomachines are what make up the Crusnik and it’s integrated into my DNA now… commands are used to activate them into action, otherwise I’m still human.”  
“Is that how your wound healed up so fast from the gunshot?”  
“They repair me almost as fast as the damage happens… in most cases as long as I have supplied it with enough… blood.”  
“And you were able to… feed when the church sent you out to hunt us?”  
He flinched a little with her question. “Yes, the rogue terrorist and what not if it was a vampire, I was called and absorbed whatever I could. The Vatican is quite dedicated to keeping the methuselah out of the general populace so the partnership worked well.”  
“That was 20%... what happens at higher levels?”  
“There is more crusnik and less… me. The highest I had ever went was 80% but since my fight with Cain I went to complete activation and that has caused me stability problems.”  
“Finally a name… Cain is the guy who almost killed you?”  
“Ye-yes.” Abel stuttered a bit again, Astha was quick to piece things together.  
He walked back around the chair and sat down, the hardest part was done and she was still here.  
“Do you drink from your victims? Given all the teeth… I can’t see anyone surviving.”  
She saw him blanch a bit at the question, regretting it instantly. “You don’t have to answer that Abel, I’m curious is all.”  
“Well… it’s more by osmosis than oral ingestion, as the nanomachines are in my blood and skin is both the biggest organ and quickest way to get to the bloodstream… if you’re asking about the more direct way, it’s happened and no they don’t survive, but I can drink blood as easily as water in a cup.”  
“That makes sense. So…being here at the Empire, isn’t this a problem for you? Being around all of us?”  
“Well… the medical research here is far more advanced than what I could access in other areas. The empress, who has been around a very long time, has agreed to help me find a way to make a pill much like your aqua vitra.”  
She nodded as he spoke, connecting now why Seth would know about his… condition.   
“Are the urges a problem all the time?”  
He looked down at his hands, instantly uncomfortable again.  
“With the changes to my system at full fusion I am struggling with the demands for more intake.”  
“Are you having trouble right now?”  
He looked back up and his eyes locked with hers searchingly.  
“Not yet… I am handling things well and I took a vial earlier to steady myself. If I tax myself with higher activation or take a lot of damage then things get tough. Before fusion I unfortunately ran myself down too low and it was very painful when I would attempt activations… oh lord those are awful.” He shuddered, remembering how his whole body would short circuit and electricity would feed back into him, torturing him for several moments. “I’m not sure what my threshold is now, it’s like I have to relearn myself again and I don’t know what all has changed being fully fused.”  
She reached forward and rested her hand on his.  
“Does contact make it worse for you? I’ve noticed you avoid it unlike before.”  
He tensed up for a moment, waiting for a reaction but it seemed he was relaxed enough to not trigger the lights anymore. He looked down at her hand, the graceful lines against his ruined gloves.   
“At times I struggle in close quarters, I… don’t trust myself completely yet. When you were in my room at Londinium I had to get you out before anything happened and then yesterday after I was shot.”   
She took her hand away, her expression sympathetic.   
“You weren’t car sick when we went to the ship, it was because of Ion and I?”  
“Car sick?” he looked confused for a moment before he chuckled. “No not carsick. Ion, bless his soul had enough silver nitrate that he was more human to me than anything, you unfortunately Miss Astha were sitting too close for me at the time.”  
“You were ok after the ship went down though?”  
She watched as guilt again darkened his features. “The pilots… you were able to replenish yourself.”  
He nodded quietly, watching her to gauge her reaction, finding he couldn’t tell anything.  
“Are you afraid of me now?” He asked quietly, his voice low and unsure. “Knowing all of this now?”  
“Afraid? No, not anymore… I’m trying my best to understand you better, Tovarish. I still have a lot of questions though.”  
He visibly relaxed into the chair, closing his eyes and letting out the breath he held.  
“Phew! I have been beside myself trying to figure out how to tell you, been urged to tell you several times actually.”  
She smiled softly, seeing him more himself finally.  
“Your coming to the Empire is for more than just as a trade envoy for the Cardinal I take it?”  
“Ah well yes, the trade aspect is actually not me at all. I’m here to disappear from the Vatican since they declared me deceased due to my extreme injury.”  
Astha nodded slowly, her look contemplative.  
“How bad was your head injury?”  
“Well… I was um… without a-a... head for a bit of time before getting more nanomachines and hitting full fusion.” He winced as he spoke, knowing how far fetched it would sound.  
He watched as her eyes widened in surprise.  
“And you came back from that bad a wound?!”  
“Apparently,” he replied dryly.  
She got up from her chair and placed her hands on either side of his face, inspecting him like a mother looking over a toddler, moving his head this way and that looking for a scar. She tipped his head back slightly and there at the v of his collarbone was a small white scar, sort of like a jagged bullet wound.  
“Ah… Astha?” He swallowed nervously, then placed his hands on her wrists to remove her hands from his face. “Please... you’re uh… too close.”   
She looked to see she had his head nearly stuffed against her ample chest. “Oh!”  
She blushed and quickly moved away. He coughed a little to cover his own embarrassment.   
“Sorry Abel, I just had to see for myself, turning into the Crusnik is one thing, but having no head is unbelievable… you really are something… else.”  
He smirked slightly. “I think I’ll take that as a compliment, probably one of the nicer things you’ve said to me.” He was openly grinning when he finished his statement.  
His humour helped break the awkwardness that had come between them.  
“They don’t happen often so enjoy it.” She teased as she settled back in her chair. “So… who is Cain? Is he like you?”  
Abel looked back at his hands, still in their tattered gloves. “Yes and no. He has been taken over by the Crusnik instead of coexisting like I do.”  
“Is he able to survive injuries like you did?”  
“Yes… except he needs my nanomachines to stabilize his to stay in form.”  
She looked at him a bit puzzled.   
“It’s complicated.”  
“I bet. Are you going after him?”  
“Yes.” He looked up and met her eyes, never had she seen such determination in him before. “I’m only here long enough to find a way to manage my needs and I will be gone.”  
Astha was quiet for a moment, looking deeply into his eyes as she made her decision.  
“Esther told me when she was in the Empire that you shouldn’t be left to your own devices… and as my Tovarish I really can’t let you go on alone.”  
Abel blinked several times in surprise, before a soft snort of indignation escaped him.  
“I’m not totally inept alone. Miss Esther just seemed to feel the need to manage me so I let her.” He pulled off his tattered gloves and stuck them in his pocket, fumbling for his long forgotten hair tie.  
“Ahh, well I’m sure you benefited from the help,” she smirked. “Besides, Seth told me she wanted you to help us stop the Orden.”  
Finding the tie caught in some trim, he smoothed back his hair and retied it.   
“I’m not surprised that she gave you a heads up… Astha, I can’t guarantee your safety if you come with me, even from myself in high activation... so this isn’t an easy mission. He is deep inside the Ordens workings, possibly the head of it and we have barely scratched the surface of what they are capable of.”  
“To stop the Orden is the most important mission for our empire right now, and given what I know now I’m more useful with you than apart.”  
He looked at her quizzically.  
“If they can’t get you a method to handle your supply, taking one with you is as good as any. I don’t mind needles just I don’t want to be bitten by that maw of teeth.”  
Abels jaw slackened in surprise, he looked at her like she had grown a new head.   
“Why? Why would you do that?”   
“What’s a little blood? I’m a healthy woman and honestly if that’s all that holding you back from going after that guy, why not?”  
“Isn’t it taboo for methuselah to share blood?”  
“I’m a little more modern thinking I guess… intent is more important than social graces.”  
Abel could feel the stirrings of the nanomachines as the conversation about blood continued. His mind still stumbled over the concept that she would willing give him, his monstrous side what it needs.   
“I guess you never really understood, when I chose to call you Tovarish that it’s a commitment to your well being. I’m a lady who is all or nothing, when I make a decision, be it good or not… perhaps its personal failing of mine to be so quick and a bit bull headed but it’s me, to the core.” She explained earnestly. “You have shared with me a part of you that you’re obviously ashamed of but have no real power to change, in fact you are now more intertwined with than before. Let me help you go after Cain, he took you away from your life at the Vatican, and the Orden is too evil to leave unchallenged.”  
Touched beyond words, Abel felt the subtle tingle of tears as they slipped from his eyes. He didn’t know what to say, he moved out of his chair and reached for her hand, once his bare hands touched hers, he pulled her up and enfolded her in his arms, not knowing if she would be ok with it, hoping the crusnik would stay away as he showed her his gratitude for her faith in him.  
Initially he felt her stiffness at the hug but then she returned it, her arms around his ribs in a comfortable fashion. “This is far more... than I had ever hoped for... I was so afraid to tell you about that side of me… thank you Astha.” He said into her hair before releasing her and stepping back.  
She looked up at him, a soft smile on her lovely face.  
“You’re welcome.” She looked around the room for the clock, it was well after eleven. “Seth mentioned you would be moved to my estate, so that we could do our research on the Orden without interruption. Given the time, do you want to just take your room now or go back to the palace?”  
“I should return as to not cause Baybars a panic.”   
“Hector should be still up, come on let’s go find him and get you back.” She went to the door and opened it.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t read the novels and the English manga is what I’m loosely using for the set up, with somewhat of how the end of the anime went with my own ideas.


End file.
